Fancast: The Punisher

Out of the two Punisher films, I'd say I like the Tom Jane Punisher the most. It may not feature any major characters or villains, but it was grounded in reality and Jane made a great Frank Castle. As for War Zone, I didn't like it very much. The violence in it was too gory, over-the-top, and pretty much cartoonish. One of my pet peeves about it was that a majority of the mobster characters spoke in friggin' Mafioso accents. It's like they were trying to make them more Mafia-like when it was painfully clear that we could tell they were gangsters. I also really hated the character of James "Loony Bin Jim" Russoti. He just seemed to be a piss poor man's version of Nicky Cavella. But one of the things that I hated the most about it is that they killed off Micro. That's probably one of the biggest dick moves in CBM history. However, I did like Ray Stevenson's portrayal of Castle and Dash Mihok's portrayal of Detective Martin Soap. They are both good actors, but that movie was too terrible for any actor to save.

As for my take on the film, I want it to be pretty gritty, something along the lines of the work of Sam Peckinpah (director of The Wild Bunch, Straw Dogs, and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia). I also want the film to be very (and I mean very) realistic, so Bushwacker will not have a cybernetic arm (unfortunately). As for the director, I chose Nicholas Winding Refn (the Pusher trilogy, Bronson, Valhalla Rising, and, most recently, Drive). If you've seen any of the guy's films, you know that he has a particular sense and style of violence that would fit perfectly in the world of the Punisher. Although the dude says that his dream project is Wonder Woman, I think he should give his hand on The Punisher.



And now my take on Frank Castle's costume and arsenal. For the costume, I want it to be along the lines of the Tom Jane costume. The Ray Stevenson costume looked faithful to the comics, but it looked kind of hard to move in. My version of the costume be a black t-shirt with the skull on it. A Kevlar bulletproof would be underneath it. The bottom part of it would be black cargo pants with a leg holster to hold his pistol, and black combat boots. He wears a black duster that holds spare ammunition for his guns.

And here's his arsenal. For his sidearm, I want it to be a lightly customized 1911 .45 caliber pistol. Frank's favorite gun in the comics is a .45 and I'm glad that the Tom Jane Punisher used .45s. Here's the rest of his arsenal in a list I made:

• MP5K submachine gun fitted with a shoulder sling
• Mossberg 500 shotgun fitted with 8-shot magazine tube
• SIG P226 pistol
• M4 Carbine fitted with M203 Grenade Launcher and red dot sight
• Benelli M3 shotgun fitted with pistol grip-stock combination, shell holder, and entry light
• Remington 700 Sniper Rifle

I hope that almost everyone on this site has a basic understanding of firearms. And now here's my take on the plot:

It has been two years since Frank Castle, a vigilante known as The Punisher, took down the criminal empire of Billy "The Beaut" Russo. The incident left Russo's face horribly scarred, taking away his good looks that he is known for. Taking on the alias of Jigsaw, Russo forms an alliance with Isabella "Ma" Gnucci, head of the Gnucci crime family. Together they form an army to take down Castle once and for all. Its now up to Castle to defeat this alliance with help from his armorer Micro and NYPD Detective Martin Soap.

And finally, here is my cast:

Heroes:

Liev Schreiber as Frank Castle/The Punisher: A former Iraq War veteran and loving family man. When having a picnic with his wife, Maria, and two children, Lisa and Frank Jr., they witnessed a mob execution and his family were killed to silence any witnesses. The tragic loss of his family along with the justice system failing to do anything about the killers, Castle took on the persona of The Punisher and vowed to take down every single mob family in New York one at a time.



Reason for Casting: The chances of Schreiber reprising his role of Sabretooth are slime to nil. I think my choice of Liev Schreiber is a very original pick (although HailTotheKingBaby's choice of Christopher Meloni is both original and awesoeme). Anyway, Schreiber has the range and the talent to portray Castle along with the build (he's 6' 3"). I've also seen pictures of him with his family and he seems to have the loving family man quality that I want Castle to have. My version of Castle has a drawing of his family that his daughter drew (similar to how Gerard Butler has a bracelet that his daughter made in Law Abiding Citizen).

Stephen Root as David Linus "Micro" Lieberman: A former computer hacker that supplies Castle with weapons. Although he supports his war on crime, he also serves as Castle's moral conscious.



Reason for Casting: Although Root is mainly a comedic actor, I've seen some of his more serious work and think he would be a good Microchip.

James Roday as Detective Martin Soap: An incompetent NYPD Detective who is known as "the department's biggest loser". He is assigned to head the "Punisher Task Force" (solely consisting of him) to take down The Punisher. However, he soon becomes Frank's liaison in the Department, providing him with information about the Gnucci crime family.



Reason for Casting: In my now non-existent fancast, I had Topher Grace as Soap. However LEEE777 told me not to put him in anything Marvel since he quote un-quote "sucks Donkey Chunks". I decided on Roday after seeing him in the hit TV show Psych. I think he'd make a great Soap if he played the character more seriously.

Naomi Watts as Maria Castle (in flashbacks): Frank's wife who was killed by the mob after she, Frank, and their children became witnesses to an execution. Her death prompted Frank to wage his war on crime.



Reason for Casting: To be honest, I chose Watts since she is in a relationship with Schreiber in real life. Besides that, I think she's a great actress and would excel in the role.

Villains:

Jon Hamm as Billy "The Beaut" Russo/Jigsaw: A mob boss who is known for his charisma and good looks. After Castle threw him out of a glass window, his face was horribly scarred thanks to the shards of glass and impact of the fall. Now calling himself Jigsaw, Russo swore revenge on the Punisher and formed an alliance with the Gnucci crime family.



Reason for Casting: Dominic West was pretty much wasted in War Zone. ACira mentioned using Hamm as Jigsaw and I happen to agree with him. He has done great work including Mad Men and The Town. But I specifically casted him because of his performance in The Town

Barbara Hershey as Isabella Carmela Magdelena "Ma" Gnucci: The head of the Gnucci crime family, which is the current Mafia family that Castle is taking down. She allies herself with Jigsaw in order to take down the Punisher.



Reasoon for Casting: Ladies and Gentlemen, I have chosen Miss David Carradine herself to play the notorious head of the Gnucci crime family. She is seriously an underrated actress and has recently appeared in Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan. I think she would be fantastic in this role.

Robert Knepper as Nicky Cavella: Russo's unstable and psychotic right hand man. He murdered his family at a young age and had an incestuous relationship with his aunt before he killed her.



Reason for Casting: I chose Knepper after seeing him as Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell on
>Prison Break. I noted the similarities between T-Bag and Cavella, and then casted him.

Robert Maillet as The Russian: An eight foot tall Russian hitman known for his brutal strength. He forms a part of the army to take down Castle.



Reason for Casting: I did consider Oleg Taktarov because of his history of in mixed matial arts and him being Russian, but he's an inch shorter than Schreiber and The Russian is suppose to be a giant. Maillet is seven feet tall and looks very menacing. But after seeing him in Sherlock Holmes, I thought he would make an excellent Russian. Just put him in a blonde wig and you got my Russian.

Kevin Durand as Carl Burbank/Bushwacker: A former CIA assassin who know works as an enforcer in the Gnucci crime family



Reason for CastingL As I said before, Bushwacker will NOT have a cybernetic arm that can be turned into guns, but I'm still keeping his history as a CIA assassin. Bushwacker will instead use a variety of firearms (mainly shotguns). I chose Durand since he's a tall bastard and made a very menacing villain on Lost. ALthough people want him as Lobo, I'd prefer Jeffrey Dean Morgan to play him.

Please leave your thoughts and comments below. I hope you enjoyed this article in which I put my sweat and blood into.