I just wanted to write a quick article about The Punisher, a character that has yet to be done justice on the big screen. After 3 movies, The Punisher still hasn’t truly connected with an audience.
I wanted to write about who The Punisher is, I’m sure everybody knows most of the info already, but The Punisher rocks and I’m really hoping we see him in the MCU soon, either in Daredevil, Civil War, or both.
I think if they keep it simple and concentrate on what makes the Punisher cool, then the movie will be awesome.
1. The Military and The “Born” story arc.
Frank Castle started out studying to become a priest. His inability to forgive those who did evil acts, and to forgive criminals, led him to enlist as a U.S. Marine Captain.
The “Born” storyline shows Castle in Vietnam and is told from the point of view of the soldiers in his platoon. Castle is praised by the soldiers, most of the soldiers are terrified to be in Vietnam but Castle leads them and pushes them to fight. Towards the end of the story, Castle has to choose between dying or letting The Punisher loose. He chooses to live and demolishes his enemy.
When he comes back home he meets his wife at the airport and the story foreshadows the murder of his Wife and family by the mafia.
The important thing about including the “Born” story arc is that Castle was insane and was The Punisher way before his family was murdered. He was the punisher all the way back to when he chose to fight and enlist in the military.
2. His family was murdered because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Castle was not targeted, he and his family witnessed a gangland execution by the mafia in Central Park and in return, the mafia killed Castle’s family.
Castle Survived the Central Park massacre and tried to imprison the men that killed his family but the Police had ties to the Mafia and the killers got away. Castle then proceeded to hunt down and kill the mafia members and bring true justice to his family.
3. The R rated issue. In an ideal world, the Punisher would be rated R, but I want to see Castle interact with the rest of the MCU. I would be fine with a PG-13 rating. I could definitely see Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, the guys who directed John Wick directing The Punisher. They also proved with John Wick that they know how to keep costs down and still make an amazing movie.
I would want Marvel to go all the way back to their roots and for The Punisher to have an Iron Man 1 feel to it (which is easier said than done, because that movie is flawless, imo). With Castle starting out in war, since Vietnam happened in the 60’s, instead, we could start Castle’s story in Afghanistan or the during the Gulf War.
4. Right now, I have 2 people I would like to see play The Punisher/Frank Castle….
1. Joe Manganiello. Seems unlikely because he’s up for Deathstroke, but I feel like Manganiello would kill it as The Punisher in the MCU and he would fit right in.
2. Justin Theroux, if Justin believes in the movie and gets behind the role, he would be amazing as Castle.
Thanks for reading and keeping The Punisher alive!!
Till next time….