This post relates to: Jigsaw, Punisher
I liked the first Punisher movie (heck no, I'm not talking about the Dolph Lundgren one!). At first I really wasn't sure about Thomas Jane, since I had only seen him in Stephen King's Dreamcatcher. It wasn't the manliest of roles. When the movie came out, I didn't even go see it right away. It wasn't until I was away at a conference that I watched it on my PSP (of all places). But I did like it. Yes, like most of you, I cringed at the way his origin was changed but movies will never be 100% true to the comics. I also don't think they should be. (Just please don't change things too much). So when the word came out that despite the lackluster box office receipts, a sequel was going to be made, I was pleased. Then the news hit that Thomas Jane was bolting from the movie. I'm even more reluctant about the new guy cast as Frank.
But anyways, (if you haven't heard already) the title for the sequel has been announced. At first I wondered, is this news legit? I stopped reading anything Punisher related some time ago and it wasn't until Matt Fraction's Punisher War Journal relaunched that I came back around. The title is...(are you ready for this?)...The Punisher: Welcome Back Frank.
Sing it with me, "Welcome back, welcome back...welcome back..."
If, unlike me, you have been keeping up with old Frank, you recognize the meaning behind the title. Here's the source:
Now, Punisher fans will immediately recognise that name as the title of Belfast-born genius writer Garth Ennis’ first arc on The Punisher comic book, which revitalised the character a few years ago and lent many story elements – including the battle with The Russian that was arguably the first movie’s standout – to the Jonathan Hensleigh/Thomas Jane original.
But there were other untapped elements in Welcome Back Frank – including a police hunt for The Punisher, and the forming of an organisation of crackpot vigilantes who took their cue from Frank Castle’s antics – that could be deployed in the new Punisher movie, about which only this is so far known: it will be set in New York, it will see Castle, his skull T-shirt and array of powerful firearms go up against a mobster (who will probably be longtime Punisher nemesis, Jigsaw), and after Jane bowed out, it will star Brit actor Ray Stevenson (Rome) in the title role.
And that maybe, just maybe, this will be third time lucky for Marvel in terms of getting one of their darkest characters right on the big screen.
www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp
Let's hope they're right. I'd love for a real kick ass Punisher movie. I think we deserve it now.
