Frontier Crucible comes our way from the producer of Bone Tomahawk and kicks off with a wagon carrying crucial medical supplies that need transport through hostile territory. The only man who can guide it through to its destination is Merrick Beckford, but to get there, he’ll need to enlist the help of a trio of dangerous outlaws hell-bent on survival.
However, when they accidentally kill an Apache scout, all bets are off, and survival is the name of the game in director Travis Mills's Western thriller.
The cast features Thomas Jane, William H. Macy, Armie Hammer, Eli Brown, Ryan Masson, Zane Holtz, Eddie Spears, and two star-making turns from relative newcomers Myles Clohessy and Mary Stickley. You can pre-order Frontier Crucible now on Apple TV.
Earlier this week, we had the good fortune to sit down with Thomas Jane for a discussion about his role as Charlie "Mule" McKee. The leader of a trio of outlaws, you're never quite sure whether he can be trusted, and the actor delivers an incredible performance in scenes that will leave your jaw on the floor.
Of course, many of you will know Jane best for his role as Frank Castle in 2004's The Punisher. He'd later reprise the role in the acclaimed 2012 short, The Punisher: Dirty Laundry, and could be among those returning in Avengers: Secret Wars for one last send-off.
When we asked Jane whether he'd be open to returning as Frank, he raised his eyebrows and proceeded to dodge the question! "I was very passionate about it," he recalled. "I did a short film called 'Dirty Laundry' that I produced and put together. I had a blast, and I'm so grateful to have been inducted into the world. I'm a big comic book fan."
It seems we'll have to wait and see whether Jane gets one more shot at playing The Punisher, but he's happy to have passed the baton to Daredevil: Born Again and Spider-Man: Brand New Day star Jon Bernthal.
"I was miscast as Frank Castle," the actor tells us in the video above. "He's an Italian. He's got black hair and a whole different sort of lineage. He was born in the 70s, as the antithesis of the Italian mob. They had taken over the world briefly, and The Godfather came out of it, too. Frank was the answer to that. Francis Castiglione. I'm not that guy. I had to dye my hair black and become a different guy."
"I'm happy the part is played by someone who is more right for that role. I had fun, and I did the best I could with it. I'm very grateful for it, but I'm not that guy."
Even if the door is closed on him playing Frank again, Jane isn't done with comic books. He has The Lycan on the way, a series he believes would make a "great" movie.
"My graphic novel is just being completed with Comixology. It's called The Lycan. It's, obviously, a werewolf book about a gang of big game hunters in the late 1700s," Jane teased. "They get shipwrecked on an island that has a bit of a wolf problem. Mike Carey wrote the script. I'm really proud of The Lycan. We're putting the finishing touches on issue six right now. That'll be out in December, and then we'll get the graphic novel out next year. You can check it out on Kindle."
If you'd like to check out The Lycan, then you can catch up on the series now by heading to Amazon.
Frontier Crucible arrives in theaters and on Digital on December 5, 2025.