Marvel’s one-man army,The Punisher, debuted in the pages ofThe Amazing Spider-Manin 1974, initially appearing as an adversary to thefriendly neighborhood wallcrawler. Since his inception,Frank Castlehas captivated readers with his binary view of good and evil and his iconic character design. The Punisher Skull is one of the most recognizable icons in comic books, alongsideSuperman’s chest emblemandCaptain America’s Shield. As the world outside comic books grew more violent, turbulent, and jaded, interest in the Punisher peaked. Hollywood came calling, and the Punisher has appeared onscreen through multiple iterations over the past 34 years. While some depictions attempt to ground him through relatable performances and psychological deconstructions, the ones that keep him two-dimensional are ultimately the best. Let’s be Frank — pun intended — a wooden Punisher is an honest Punisher.
The Punisher has been played in a live-action iteration by four actors, each with their own individual take on the character.Jon Bernthalis the most recent, whose turns as Frank in Netflix’sDaredevilandPunishershow a man haunted by his mistakes, burdened by his own violence, and broken by his chosen lifestyle. While it makes for gripping television, it ultimately fails the source material. Likewise,Thomas Janeplayed the Punisher in a 2004 live-action version that found the character relatively inexperienced and tentative; a kind of Year One story that shortchanged Frank’s brutal effectiveness. A 2012 short film follow-up,Dirty Laundry, showcases a more faithful adaptation, but it is often regarded as too little too late for that portrayal. The most divisive, or critically derided, performances are the ones that most closely hew to the Frank Castle of the comic books. These are 1989’sThe PunisherstarringDolph Lundgrenand 2008’sPunisher: War Zonestarring the lateRay Stevenson.
Dolph Lundgren Brought The Punisher to the Screen
Marvel wasn’t always the powerhouse that it is today, and its first few forays into live-action entertainment are largely hailed as abject failures. There’s the batshit 1978Spider-Manfrom Toei Company, theCaptain Americafilm of 1979, and the infamous1986 turkeyHoward the Duck. As such, expectations were low when Marvel partnered with Swedish powerhouse Dolph Lundgren to bring The Punisher to screens in 1989. The Punisher that found his way to the screen was devoid of his signature skull logo, though it is visible on the hilt of one of his knives. An attempt was made to make the actor’s face resemble the ghastly skull by drawing on a five o’clock shadow that inexplicably extends to his earlobes, though the effort is a stretch at best.
The film follows Frank Castle as he unleashes a one-man war on crime from his subterranean sewer base, alternately hunted and helped by his former partner on the police force, Jake Berkowitz, played byLouis Gossett, Jr. His target is Gianni Franco, a charming businessman who is actually a highly connected mafia head. Their entanglement is complicated by the emergence of the Yakuza, and when Franco’s son is kidnapped, he and The Punisher form an uneasy alliance to rescue the boy. Franco is played with garish delight by veteran character actorJeroen Krabbé, whom many viewers might remember as the villain who would go on to orchestrate the death ofHarrison Ford’s Richard Kimble’s wife in 1993’sThe Fugitive.
Lundgren’s Punisher is lethally effective, racking up a kill count of 76 ne’er-do-wells over the film’s lean 92-minute run. To the film’s credit, the Punisher seen onscreen has been active for five years in continuity, reportedly retiring 125 criminals prior to the film’s events. A seasoned Punisher is what comics readers found in the pages of Marvel’s issues, so it works equally well to present him as such onscreen. Lundgren’s acting is admittedly wooden, but it keeps the two-dimensionality of the page character intact for this live-action interpretation. Another layer of funny book mentality is lent to the picture through the inclusion of Franco’s young son. By allowing the viewer to see the Punisher through a child’s eyes, we are given a comic book-accurate depiction. It is all violence over character, splash over sentiment, and guns over story beats. Viewers who see the film only once may retain only brief remembrances of the picture —probably a motorcycle and a surprising amount of male nudity.
Ray Stevenson Delivers the Most Violent Depiction of The Punisher
Marvel would attempt to recreateThe Punisheragain in 2004 withThomas Janein the lead role, squaring off against antagonists played byJohn Travoltaand the always-brilliantWill Patton. The film is a fine introduction to the character but, as previously stated, it’s an origin story and therefore does a disservice to longtime fans of Castle’s comic book counterpart. When both star Jane and directorJonathan Hensleighdropped out of the sequel, actor Ray Stevenson and directorLexi Alexanderwere given the opportunity to bring their vision to the screen. What emerged is something thoroughly unique. Ray Stevenson’s turn in the flak jacket is so hyper-violent that it’s hilarious — it’s literally the only way one’s mind can digest the film.
Whether you’re shooting a POV shot throughWayne Knight’s mom’s pulverized head or taking out a Parkour enthusiast with a shoulder-launched rocket, the film is ridiculously over-the-top, tempered only by Stevenson’s staunch resistance to any kind of fun. He stalks the proceedings like a monolithic monster (how great it would’ve been to see his take onFranken-Castle), largely silent and unrelenting. To contrast, the villains in this outing are colorful and absurd.Dominic Westchews through scenery asJigsawin much the same way glass bottles chew through his face.Doug Hutchisonsimilarly chews the scenery (and people) as Loony Bin Jim, brother to the film’s chief antagonist. These characters bounce around with the energy of a cartoon, and we again are given a child’s perspective on The Punisher with the inclusion of Angela Donatelli (Julie Benz) and her daughter caught in the crosshairs of Jigsaw’s nefarious plans. Benz is no stranger to violence as her filmography includes 2008’sRambo, Showtime’sDexter, andSaw V. She was born into The Punisher’s world, so it may seem.
Stevenson is inspired in his portrayal of Frank Castle, and while he bears the burden of his crusade and his failures, we’re rarely privy to the howling indignation of his fate. Castle understands the only way out is through, and his black-and-white character design is a direct reflection of his binary worldview. There is only good and evil, and evil must be eradicated so that good may flourish. If admitting that means killing 87 criminals throughout the run of the film, then so be it.Punisher: War Zoneis a film that must be seen to be believed, and if you haven’t seen it, it has all the violence you’re looking for with none of the sentiment.
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The Definitive Version of The Punisher Lives on the Pages of Marvel Comics
While Jane and Bernthal humanized the more monstrous aspects of Frank Castle’s one-man war on crime, Lundgren and Stevenson chose more responsibly to keep their characters flat. There’s no room for moral ambiguity when it comes to the Punisher — he is not a character to emulate. While his moral code may keep him only marginally on the side of good in the pages ofMarvel Comics, the brutality and defeatism of his hard-line stance is problematic, to say the least. Truth is, we don’t need The Punisher to be relatable and human — we need an uncompromising sketch of vengeance that can’t exist in our world, and that’s what’ll keep us tuning in.
