Hello and I'm John Jones aka The Comic Critic,
I was once a horror movie fanatic and I must say next to comic book films I still love them a lot. Being a horror film fanatic as I am The Punisher is one of my favorite all time characters. His story can be stretched among many different ways, his story is unique. Many people just think of him as the bad@$$ with a skull shirt and a trench coat, to me he is a symbol of what real justice or power is. I don't like him just because he has no trouble killing or going for that extra punch this man may you say is one of Marvel's most darkest characters that has come a long way. Three films have been made so far about the tales of Frank Castle as The Punisher. All three films not so well received by critics and fans but to me I appreciate the story they are trying to tell in all of them. They are all based in different era's in The Punisher Timeline some original for the film some within context from the comic books. Dolph Lundgren, Thomas Jane, and Ray Stevenson did an excellent portrayal for the character that was written for them. Well to say I own all the films and if I had to choose a possible favorite it would be the Thomas Jane interpretation. He was more of a slow moving detective style in terms of his force. There was many great moments in the film I must say including the torture sequence unlike any of the other films. I also own the extended cut and there are many great scenes that did not make it in the original version like the film Daredevil. It's no suprise to say Thomas Jane is once again interested in the character despite a small fued that happened. He returned in a short film titled "Dirty Laundry" which sees a similiar dark and gritty tone. It was both a mix of Thomas Jane's version and packed violence in like the film Punisher: War Zone in to say.
Maybe Marvel sometime in the future would think about bringing back the character but right now Marvel has more important projects to work on involving phase 2. Also with the recent failure of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance I think Marvel has a lot to rethink about involving smaller character properties outside the avengers universe.
So let's all suppose Marvel suddenly had plans to bring back this character at once. What new story would they take the character too. The recent film Punisher:War Zone was based of The Punisher Max storyline. To also say I have read collected versions of Punisher Max and all in all they are amazing blood fueled stories. But it is not always good to go with the same formula especially if you have a different actor in the role. I am assuming Ray Stevenson would not be back in the role and they would pick Thomas Jane, I only hope. Maybe if they do the story would continue from where it last left off back in Thomas Jane's film roughly after five years. Many people say New York is the only perfect setting but think about expanding on it, maybe he goes to take out a gang in Las Vegas. Well Frank Castle is still a heavily wanted man by law enforcement so I don't think taking a plane would be easy for him. So anyway getting back to the story, Frank Castle is on the verge of looking for his next major target when suddenly he is discovered by this retired hitman. So the hitman goes to tell Frank why he was retired and how The Punisher was his target he was searching for all these years until now. Basically Frank receives this information to be a series threat, when all of a sudden he collapses. While Frank tries to help him he finds a police badge in his pocket and suspects a bigger conspiracy is at play and the odds are against him vs his hidden enemy. The concept is more Sherlock Holmes meets The Punisher in terms of an element. The film should still utilize major action sequences while most of the focus develops on his story and his own clues at this mysterious crime. The film should not just be violent but gut twisting dark and sick. I recently saw The Expendables 2, they found a way to balance a good mix of both action and comedy. Well I guess it's not the perfect example in the end but when you mix a few elements of a film the end product either turns into a masterpiece or garbage left overs.
If you have any comments or suggestions type in the comments and I might reply to them depending if I'm not busy.