Fancast: The Punisher

First off, I made a Punisher cast a few months back. It contained my ideas on how the Punisher should be portrayed, and my opinions on the previous two Punisher films. However, I wasn't fully satisfied with my cast. If you want to check it out, then by all means, click on the link.

Anyway, i have two picks for a director: Nicholas Winding Refn (Bronson, Vahalla Rising, Drive) and Michael Mann (Heat, Collateral, Public Enemies). Refn is a brilliant young filmmaker whose particular sense of violence is perfect for the Punisher. Mann, on the other hand, has proven he's ideal for the position through his long career.




My choice for writer is David Simon (creator of The Wire). He could definitely bring the criminal element to the film.

Anyway, here's the cast. Also, if you're going to complain about the double casting s in my cast, then I have an urgent message to you:



Heroes:

Liev Schreiber (Defiance, Salt) as Frank Castle/The Punisher: An Iraq War veteran and loving family ma. While out on a picnic with his wife and two children, they came across a mob execution and frank's family was killed to silence any witnesses. The death of his loved ones combined with the judicial system's failure to apprehend those responsible drive Frank to become the vigilante called The Punisher. Castle is trained in hand-to-hand combat and is an expert with firearms.



Reason for Casting: Everyone on this site (with the exception of tweeeeenkies3 and nowtheresaBATman) can agree that Schreiber was the only good thing about that train wreck known as X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Schrieber is a versatile and talented actor, being nominated for a Golden Globe for RKO 281 (where he played the young Orson Welles) and winning a Tony award for is performance as Richard Roma in the 2005 Broadway revival of Glengarry Glen Ross. He has the right build and eight for the role and would make a Punisher that is as every bit as good as Tom Jane's.

Stephen Root (Office Space, King of the Hill) as Linus "Microchip" Lieberman: A former computer hacker and frank's friend, who supplies him with firearms and technology to fight his war on crime.



Reason for Casting: Root is a talented and hilarious actor who would make a wonderful replace for Wayne Knight.

Eric Christian Olsen (The Loop, NCIS: Los Angeles) as Detective Martin Soap: An NYPD detective who is considered the "department's biggest loser". He is the head of the "Punisher Task Force" (consisting only of him), and is Frank's Liason in the department, feeding him information on various criminals.



Reason for Casting: Eric's a hilarious actor who would be a great comic relief in an otherwise dark film.

Carla Gugino (Watchmen, Sucker Punch) as Lit. Molly von Richtofen:: A talented investigator who was demoted to working with Soap after refusing to sleep with the Police Commissioner.



Reason for Casting: Gugino's no stranger to CBM's, having stared in Zack Snyder's adaptation of Watchmen and being a popular choice for Catwoman. Her roles in Righteous Kill and Faster convinced me to cast her.

Hugh Laurie (A Bit of Fry & Laurie, House) as J. Jonah Jameson: The publisher of the Daily Bugle, whose has a strong dislike of vigilantes.



Reason for Casting: Even though everyone says that its impossible to replace J.K. Simons as JJJ, Hugh Laurie could make a great replacement. As seen on his show House, he's great at playing both the intelligent yet eccentric types and grouchy, cynical jerks. I know this is hardly a original casting pick, but Laurie will always be my pick for JJJ.

David Duchovny (The X-Files, Californication) as Ben Urich: The tough-as-nails reporter for the Daily Bugle. Unlike Jameson, Urich is supportive of vigilantes and their activities.



Reason for Casting: Kudos to CBM User BigEars for this pick. Duchovny is a great and talented actor who's deserves a CBM role. A role like Urich fits him like a glove.

Naomi Watts (Mulhollans Drive, The International) as Maria Castle: Frank's wife, whose death, along with his children's, drove him to become the Punisher.



Reason for Casting: The main point of casting Naomi was because she and Liev are a couple in real life. Ignoring that, she's a talented actress, as seen in Mulholland Dr. and 21 Grams.

Also, I would to see Frank's life with his family in flashbacks when he was a much more happier man, so we can how truly devastating the loss of his family is to him.

Villains:

Jon Bernthal (Eastwick, The Walking Dead) as Billy "The Beaut" Russo/Jigsaw: A crime boss who owned multiple night clubs and was known for his dashing good looks. When Castle assaulted one of his clubs, he threw Russo from a third story window. He survived, but the fall and the glass left his face horribly scarred and the loss of his handsome looks drove Russo insane. Now calling himself "Jigsaw", Russo swore to get revenge on the Punisher.



Reason for Casting: I have to thank DDD for this casting pick, because if didn't, I'd be a douche. Anyway, Bernthal has recently been popping up all over casts as Wolverine. However, after seeing his more antagonistic and more violent performance in the second season of The Walking Dead, I can safely say that he'd would own a role like Jigsaw.

Also, here's two ideas about a film portrayal of Jigsaw. First, I'd like Jigsaw's face to be terribly scarred and beyond with no attempts at plastic surgery. Second, Frank's motive for shoving him out a window was because Russo's dealers had sold drugs to children and that a 14 year old girl's death by an overdose had drove Castle to assault the club directly rather than taking out everybody connected with Russo one by one.

Robert Malliet (Sherlock Holmes, Immortals) as The Russian: An eight foot Russian hitman who is known to kill his targets by beating them with his barehands. The Russians posses incredible strength and endurance, and has a high pain tolerance, possibly being invulnerable to bullets. How, The Russian has an aversion to hot things, such as boiling water.



Reason for Casting: Dolph Lundgren has been a popular pick for The Russian due to his built and height. However, he's not intimidating enough for my Castle pick. I went with Malliet because he's a huge man, standing at 7ft tall. And after seeing him as the Dredger in the first Sherlock Holmes film, I can tell you that he'd be ideal for the Russian. If you're still not convinced, check out this clip of him in Sherlock Holmes.



Also, I don't want the Russian to be portrayed with blond hair. Malliet already looks intimidating enough. blond hair would just ruin it.

Sullivan Stapleton (Animal Kingdom, Strike Back: Project Dawn) as Carl Burban/Bushwacker: A former CIA agent turned assassin that has a hatred towards all mutants. His right arm has been bionically altered so that he can use it as a gun (such as using his index finger as a pistol). With his left hand, he can alter his other hand into other guns, such as a shotgun or a machine gun).



Reason for Casting: I;m fan of Cinemax's Strike Back: Project Dawn, and Stapleton is simply a badass on there. His performance in Animal Kingdom was enough ti convince me to cast him as Bushwacker.

Tom "Tiny" Lister Jr. (Friday, The Dark Knight) as Barracuda: A former Green Beret turned mercenary with a high level of strength, fighting ability, and intelligence. Barracuda posses a high stamina and can survive an injury so serious anf keep fighting back. He is also incredibly optimistic, possessing a "half glass full" style of thinking.



Reason for Casting: Tiny Lister is possibly the living definition of intimidating. He stands at 6"5' and is made for Barracuda (and no to Michael Clarke Duncan, he's too friendly). '

Johnathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors, From Paris with Love) as Finn Cooley: A former IRA soldier turned Crime Boss. He is a bomb expert and has to wear a mask over his face after it was disfigured in an accident.



Reason for Casting: I decided to give Meyers a role that wasn't Namor for the billionth [frick]ing time. Anyway, i always wanted to see Meyers play villain role because he's fantastic on The Tudors. I was originally going to go with Michael Fassbender, but I didn't want people bitching about somebody casting him for the billionth time.

Barbara Hershey (Black Swan, Once Upon a Time) as Isabella Carmela Magdelena "Ma" Gnucci: The Matriarch of the Gnucci crime family, which runs many illegal activities in New York and has influence over the Mayor and the Police Commissioner.



Reason for Casting: Hershey is a fantastic actress. It was here roles in Bpxcar Bertha and Black Swan that convinced me that she'd be a great Gnucci.

Vincent D'Onofrio (Full Metal Jacket, Law & Order: Criminal Intent) as Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin: One of the most feared and powerful crime lords in all of New York. While posing as a generous, wealthy business man, Fisk owns many parts of the New York Criminal Empire. Although Fisk is of a heavy set weight, he is incredibly strong and is an expert in martial arts.



Reason for Casting The Kingpin and Robert Goren (D'onofrio's character from Law & Order) have a lot in common despite being on the opposite sides of the law. They are both extremely intelligent and physically imposing men.All he would need to do is gain a bit of weight and he'd steal the show as the Kingpin.

Zachary Quinto (Heroes, Star Trek) as Bullseye: A psychotic assassin who uses his line of work to exercise his homicidal tendecies. Bullseye is an expert marksman with perfect accuracy and can turn simple day-to-day objects such as pencils and playing cards into lethal projectiles. He is also an expert martial artist.



Reason for Casting: In case you have forgot, Quinto played a creepy-as-hell serial killer with zero empathy named Sylar on Heroes. He should be given a chance at Bullseye because he has the psycho part nailed down perfectly.

Anyway, please leave you thoughts and comments below. Rude or annoying comments will be deleted.