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PUNISHER: THE SERIES From THIRD WATCH/SUSPECT BEHAVIOR Creator Ed Bernero In Development At Fox!!
While ABC is developing Marvel’s “The Hulk” and “AKA Jessica Jones,” Fox is betting big on a pilot script for “The Punisher” from Ed Bernero, whose other creations include NBC’s “Third Watch” and last season’s aborted CBS spin-off “Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior.”
Introduced in a 1974 issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, The Punisher is actually Frank Castle, a murderous vigilante and former Marine who employs heavy artillery and torture in an effort to avenge the mob murders of his wife and kids.
In Bernero’s proposed TV version, Castle will be a young NYPD detective who solves crimes by day and acts as vigilante by night.
Created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru, The Punisher has been depicted in a 1989 straight-to-video feature titled “The Punisher” starring Dolph Lundgren. A 2004 “The Punisher” movie starred Thomas Jane as Castle and the 2008 “Punisher: War Zone” starred Ray Stevenson.
Find Deadline’s story on the matter here.
Readers Talkback
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Oct. 20, 2011, 9:44 p.m. CST
Cop by day, vigilante by night? Reasonable premise (i guess) but not the Punisher.
by dahveed1972
Why even use the license? Any hardcore fan is gonna hate the idea.
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Oct. 20, 2011, 9:48 p.m. CST
Person of Interest is closer to punisher than this sounds.
by MegaMan3k
But I'll remain optimistic, because that's what I do with regards to The Punisher franchise... (And Thomas Jane's version was great, and could have been fantastic with sequels)
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..PYOO-nished.
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The Punisher is a mass murderer, he is a soldier, he is constantly striving for maximum body count. You can't have that on Network TV or Basic Cable, you can't have that level of Blood and Guts and unequivocal right and wrong. The Punisher's super power is almost never killing a civilian. Any attempt at putting the Punisher on Network TV will not end up being the Punisher. It can't, liberal PC bullshit will not allow it. But HBO could do this, could even use Ray Stevenson, COULD ACTUALLY GIVE HIM SOME FUCKIN LINES!, and be awesome! 12 episode seasons, based off Garth Ennis runs and new material, very violent, very psychological, very Punisher. Not watered down liberal do gooder cop that probably wont even use a fuckin taser, and spends his nights investigating white collar crime.
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Fuuuuuuu... the whole point of the character is that he was a family man until his family got ganked, then he decided to go put on the asskicking boot made of flaming meat (to borrow from the poet Cumptson). It wasn't a "hey, know what would be a good idea? Boy it would be nifty way to alleviate the boredom of my job if I started killing bad guys to supplement my day job of not killing bad guys." Castle was a villain originally, not just an anti-hero. This sounds like PINO.
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Oct. 20, 2011, 10:04 p.m. CST
So Marvel gets the rights of Punisher back and THIS is what they come up with??!!
by JZM
Garth Ennis and Jason Aaron must be shaking their heads in disgust.
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SERIOUS Punisher fan here. And this sounds like just awful. Like worse-than-Dolph Lundgren awful. Worse-than-setting-The-Punisher-in-freaking-Tampa awful. Almost (but not quite) FRANKENCASTLE awful. Frank Castle is tough, grizzled, relentless. He's not a young detective pulling shit on the side. He's not. And Ed Bernero, in his infinite wisdom (snark), should know the hell better. Can't wait to never watch this.
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Oct. 20, 2011, 10:16 p.m. CST
Can we just get a fucking third season of Josh Friedman's Sarah Connor Chronicles ???
by Xen11
FUCK
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He's probably gonna be all ethic-ey. Oh wait... a cop? Hmm.
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Oct. 20, 2011, 10:27 p.m. CST
Why is it SO hard to make a decent Punisher...and stick to the origin story???
by Barrymore
Punisher is one of the simplest concepts around, yet everyone keeps messing it up! He's a vigilante in New York City who wears a skull on his shirt and gets revenge on the bad guys who killed his family...why is this SO HARD TO GET RIGHT????
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Is it really that hard?
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Greg Rucka has been doing a great job on the new comic. Let Rucka advise.
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...for such a stupid idea.
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Oct. 20, 2011, 10:39 p.m. CST
I know I'll get shit for this but Tom Janes Punisher had a lot to love
by ltgalloway
Tom Jane was great. I wish he had done another movie, but we can't have everything. Maybe someday this property will get turned around and we'll get the movie we've all wanted. Can't keeping missing the mark forever, right? Law of averages and such.
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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That is all, bitches!
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He's supposed to be on a mission. This is the tried and true Punisher cycle: 1. Finds someone who needs punishing, while still nursing terrible injuries from last punishment. 2. Does some recon. 3. Punishes them while getting severely injured again. 4. Repeat. That's all he does. And that's why it's awesome. Making Punisher a cop is like making Rambo a cop: un-fucking-necessary.
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This is right up there with a Battlestar Galactica remake, in the realm of shitty ideas.
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1. It's on network tv = they will not be able to deliver what Punisher fans want to see. MOVE IT TO FX. They've shown some HARDCORE shit like SOA burning the back tattoo off their traitor and Juice shooting that guy multiple times in the head, and VIC MACKEY beating a gangbanger to death with a chain. Or fuck it, just pair it up with GLEE on Tuesdays and have a crossover episode. 2. A cop by day? Crap. You've changed the genesis of the character and pissed off the fans before one frame has been shot. Why is it so hard just to make him a marine back from Iraq/Afghanistan/Fictional-stan if need be. If you want to do a cop turned vigilante show, make up your own shit, don't attach a Marvel brand name character to it just to try and get fanboys excited. 3. I see the word "young" in there. This is not cool. Do not put the casting call out there for 25 year olds. Frank Castle needs to have a grizzled, battle-hardened quality to him. We need Ray fucking Stevenson, or use him as a template. Fuck, I want to believe. But why are they making a Punisher show if they're changing everything fundamental about the character?
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He's a shallow, one dimensional character. Read the newer Punisher MAX books (or the amazing first 10 issues of Punisher War Zone)- they're good because he really isn't the central character. The story is more about those surrounded by the Punisher, who is more or less a force of nature. Punisher movies have yet to grasp this fact. It's really a shame. Imagine a show more or less like "Wiseguy", except with an undercover Punisher who busts out the skull shirt and guns once in awhile to clean up. Could be VERY cool.
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and a wacky neighbour?
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i have been yelling for years that the best medium for the Punisher comic is to make it into a tv series. But please,please,please dont make it a simple,typical,cheesy action series for the fans. You MUST base your tv series in the masterful ENNIS MAX SERIES.Follow the central storyline of those comics with Punisher ending up having a daughter.you must do it.you must infuse the series with soul and heart.You need this because just killing the bad guys will end up being boring pretty quickly. Apart from the central storyline,make episodes which touch real-life crime problems like the Ennis comics did: sex slavery,corrupted corporations,russian and italian mafia,drug trade,the dirty war in Afghanistan and so on. Make the series real,gritty,grounded in reality,make it dark,depressive,mature,adult,R-RATED and dont be fucking shy with it.Make the violence and the sex in it (u have to throw sex) to have a purpose,a meaning,it shouldnt be there only to entertain the pew pew boys. Take notes from the 70s action/cop movies,NOT the 80s.Dirty Harry,Death Wish,Bullit,etc.FOCUS on New York,the darkside of New York.It must be the secondary protagonist of the series. DEVELOP the peripheral characters surrounding the Punisher.The Punisher himself is a one-note character.He is lifeless,a zombie with a mission to kill all the bad guys.He does it not for revenge,for an ideology,or because he likes,but because some kind of darkness lies inside him. So you need to focus on the other charactesr,you must make them interesting and using them in good stories, through them the Punisher character will become interesting and retain the longevity of the series. EXACTLY like Ennis did with his MAX run which is considered the best Punisher run ever.I would also suggest to make a prequel pilot based on the BORN prequel of the MAX seriers,but since it happens in Vietnam and Vietnam hasnt been irrelevenant since the 80s,it is better not to do it. BUT do use flashbacks from Vietnam in those episodes who try to explain a bit about the Punisher past and origin.OFC you must have him in his 50s. Please try to make a good series,Punisher has a undeniable potential for greatness,Ennis MAX series proved that,dont turn him into another Hollywood comic tvseries bullshit. I know you are not going to read this,but even if you did you wouldnt give a fuck.but i gave it a try,because Punisher is my fav Marvel hero and he deserves more than those shitty movies.
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Oct. 20, 2011, 11:57 p.m. CST
Was just standing in the warehouse where the Thomas Jane version was shot
by Cheif Brody
here in Tampa, for 3 days. Been thinkin about The Punisher all week...and now Fox delivers this wet, steaming turd of an idea. <p> Fuck that. Just watch "Person of Interest"...and imagine Jim Caviezel has a fuckin skull on his chest. <p> Cop by day. Fuck Fox. And fuck Marvel for allowing it to happen.
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Frankencastle. Zombies are in and it would be better then this proposed aborted shit ball.
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he is like a Tomas Jane clone.He has the right age,face,body and attitude to make a great Punisher.have his wife Torv as Kathryn O'Brien,Punisher's mother of his daughter.we might get a real sex scene between them in the series.ha. But anyway Mark Valley for punisher.NOW.PLEASE.
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"Liberal PC bullshit"? Especially considering it's usually conservative family groups going around trying to ban every titty and every utterance of the word fuck on television. If this is watered down, which it will be, blame the family values fuckers, not liberals. You're just another example of people who have to try and politicize everything. That shit gets real old real fast.
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Oct. 21, 2011, 12:05 a.m. CST
As for this show, it's the stupidest TV news since Charlie's Angels. Hulk, on the other hand...
by American Mythos
... is something I might check out.
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Just have a person killing people and getting away with it without a badge. Fucking killing cops himself, because police are the most corrupt pieces of shit. Problem is, they are so corrupt that television isn't allowed to show them in a bad light. Same with doctors and the pharmaceutical business. Doctors and cops are evil. Clearly they are in top position and rule the airwaves and entertainment as well.
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Punisher 2099 was a cop... that was kinda fun. It also had flying cars and the word SHOCK... which was the FRACK of it's day. Having said that... no. I don't wanna see that. I wanna see something by Ennis or Rucka or anybody that gets that HE'S NOT A COP. HE'S THE SHOCKING PUNISHER.
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If they make the show, they should make it a continuation of that film. Stevenson included. And punches through faces included as well.
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Isn't that Dexter? I can just see it now, the inevitable ret-con, he's now a Iraqi War vet, a young, pretty 20-something year old cop...what will it be, gangbangers kill his family? Some sinister global company? AMC needs to do this one. Set it in the 70s and late 80s, where he belongs...Vietnam vet...out for blood against organized crime...THAT could be good.
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Because every fuckin show just has to be about either cops, doctors or lawyers.
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Go to premium cable with these ideas or don't bother.
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Just rofl, accusing me of what Politicizing it which is exactly what you just did. And it is liberal PC bullshit, that makes it so you cant shoot people on TV, that you cant have blood, or are you saying the anti gun anti violence people are not part of the PC liberal crowd? Who also are the same people that made it so you cant smoke anymore on TV, even say things like Retard.
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I already don't like the idea at all. As a pretty old school Punisher fan, this sounds disasterous. I do agree with grinspoorn, it shouldn't be on network TV, and if anything, it should be on a cable network where there will be a hell of a lot more leeway when it comes to some of the violence issues. Especially if you've read any of the Punisher MAX stuff.
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Liberals want freedom of expression. Anything goes in the fictional world. Don't think that liberals can't be hardcore motherfuckers in the real world. They just don't do stupid shit like believe in imaginary things in the nonfictional world and kill people just because they live in another town or country. Christian Conservatives are the ones that don't want anything "unChristianlike" on that there TV. They preach bullshit and then rape their neices, nephews, and cousins while executing the gay boy in town and anyone with different skin color.
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Oct. 21, 2011, 2:16 a.m. CST
I agree with what you guys are saying (dahveed1972, hapapapa72, and others)
by lv_426
The Punisher can't be done the way they are proposing for this new series. HBO, Showtime, AMC, or FX would be the perfect home for a dark and violent authentic take on The Punisher. Fox though? Good luck not getting canceled after the first season. It is too bad that they kinda wasted Ray Stevenson in War Zone. He had the perfect look, and is a good actor. He also looked a lot like the way The Punisher was drawn in the actual War Zone comic book. Thomas Jane, whose work as an actor I enjoy. Hung is a fun show, and The Mist is one of my favorite horror films. He wasn't the most obvious actor to cast in a Punisher flick, but I thought he did a good job. Wierdly enough, Dolph Lundgren seemed to look the most like the Punisher from the War Journal series, while Ray Stevenson looked like Puny from the War Zone offshoot. The Punisher was my go to superhero comic back in the day (late 80's til the mid 90's). I liked X-men but Punisher was just badass. I liked that he was mortal and didn't have far fetched super powers. He just armed himself to the teeth with all manner of weaponry. For a young lad growing up on classic 80's action fare like Rambo, Commando, Predator, Missing in Action, The Untouchables, The Punisher was a great fit to that type of shoot 'em up storytelling. I also thought it was interesting that Frank Castle was a little crazy. His crimefighting heart was in the right place, but his mind was a bit messy. I also loved that he was pretty much a loner, except for the occasional appearance of his nerdy sidekick Microchip. That was another great touch. His sidekick was a computer nerd who didn't go into battle with Frank because , let's face it, Micro was a bit of a chubbo. Making Frank Castle a cop by day, and The Punisher by night is retardedly stupid! It completely misses the entire point of what and who The Punisher is. Frank Castle is beyond the law, similar to Batman, just less compassionate and more brutal in the manner in which he dishes out his vigilante justice. This ties back into the loner aspect of The Punisher. He lives off the grid, and has weapons caches in say a warehouse in an industrial district. He doesn't go to work everyday and then plays Punisher at night like it is some hobby. Ugh! This sounds like some half-assed attempt to squeeze a Batman/Bruce Wayne or Superman/Clark Kent double identity formula onto The Punisher, as well as probably forcing a police procedural structure onto the show. Frank Castle is a ghost. A memory of who he was before he became The Punisher.
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Oct. 21, 2011, 2:17 a.m. CST
Saen, look at the Parents Television Council, a conservative group made...
by American Mythos
... specifically to police what we watch. I give you -- Wikipedia! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parents_Television_Council Sure, the gun control crowd is active in similar TV policing, so are some liberal corners, but not nearly as much as the PTC. I'm telling you man, you're blaming the wrong people for the watering down of American television.
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If Punisher was a real person he would be portrayed has a white terrorist responsible for terrorist acts by law enforcement and the media. so how the heck could he be a police officer. Daft. The tone for a Punisher TV show would show Castle has a man who knows what he is doing is right in his own head but puts him at odds with the world and superhero community. Could make for a very good and dark series that could last for years. It would even allow Marvel to do cameos for other Marvel characters in mini story arcs over two episodes too. Just imagine a whole episode of Castle going paranoid/nuts thinking he is being stalked and folowed by Spidey. And you never see Spidey either!! Just the mere thought of him drives Castle loopy!! The tone and motif of any Punisher show would be taken from the Saw and Hostel horror movies. Dark and grim.
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A 70s period brutal balls to the wall cable production. Dirtier than Harry ever hoped to be.
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But I don't get why you would take an existing IP and then change it so drastically. Part of the allure of Castle is that you feel bad for him and then cheer him as he breaks the law to get those who are beyond the law. Making him a cop by day, means he's just a dirty law breaking cop. What might make a good show is start it off as a normal cop series, then show how Castle and his family is, show how Castle ticks off the eventual murderers of his family, then 3-4 episodes in show his loss and then his transformation into the Punisher. Not that any of this really matters, FOX will just can the show before the end of the 2012 World Series anyway.
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Oct. 21, 2011, 2:33 a.m. CST
Fuck! At this rate I might as well pitch a show about a genius who is a cop, a doctor, and a lawyer
by lv_426
He could shoot the crook, perform surgery right there on the street, and than represent the crook he shot in court. All that in an hour of television. That's the formula. I shall call this Emmy winning turd... Officer Law M.D.
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Start as a good cop who has a promising future, and than the mafia kills his family. Maybe he took down some big kahuna in the New York mob? That would be a way to make his anger and break with sanity... that if he hadn't arrested said mobster, maybe his family would still be alive? Either way, this would have to be a dark and brutal single-arc series with plenty of action. It can't be case-of-the-week police procedural bullshit.
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Oct. 21, 2011, 3:12 a.m. CST
They did make him a cop in the Dolph Lundgren version...
by Master Bruce
...but only in the flashbacks. I wasn't crazy about that change back then, but if Fox wanted to make him a former cop again, I guess it could add another dimension to Castle as he struggles w/the man he was vs. the man he is now. But make no mistake, although he's not happy w/what he's become, he still KILLS the bad guys who deserve it...period.
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Oct. 21, 2011, 3:13 a.m. CST
Can`t wait for Summer Glau, as the plucky computer hacker love interest.
by David Cloverfield
Seriously, this is the wrong way to go. I get that he needs a supporting cast, but just have a task force chasing him, and give him one or two supporting characters. It`s enough.
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Why does Hollywood do this? So annoying. If this movie isn't really about the Punisher, don't call it the punisher, just call it something else
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AMC could show it. It would be sort of the antithesis to Mad Men.
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AMC could show it. It would be sort of the antithesis to Mad Men.
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Oct. 21, 2011, 4:46 a.m. CST
Damn. Its not Rocket Science.... Its a Rocket Launcher.
by Dyslexic_Palindrome
Ive said it before and I will say it again, The Punisher is basically Batman with an NRA Lifetime Membership. He will also kill where the Batman will do all in his power not to. Its not rocket science. All you have to remember in my opinion is that he is punishing himself for being alive and surviving where his wife and kids didnt. Otherwise, he is just another no neck jarhead with a gun. The same rule works for Jack Bauer of "24" fame as well. They both work so damn hard to protect the innocent, and very good at what they do. Where they fail is protecting those they are closest to. Thats what both drives and haunts them, at least in my opinion....
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that's what i had read in an interview in a Marvel comic i think.
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Oct. 21, 2011, 5:57 a.m. CST
Jack Bauer is proof that The Punisher can work as a tv series on Fox.
by Xen11
The Sarah Connor Chronicles is further proof that you can make the greatest series ever made with no compromise on Fox. In fact, Fox, a broadcast network (the edgiest and best of them) can afford way more than a cable network can. It all depends on the makers doing a great job. Sure Fox cancels a lot of series, but there's a side you don't realize and that's the closure they allow. With Terminator, the back 9 episodes were like a gift to close out the series as best it could where it was in its story. Warner Bros. was actually a lot more to blame for Terminator's cancellation, as WB didn't want to pony up the money for a Season 3 since they had used the series as just a lead up to Terminator Salvation's release, then they discarded it in favor of giving Chuck Lorre the money instead. With Dollhouse, not only did Fox give it a second season when they didn't have to, but they gave advance notice that they would cancel the series so Joss could plan the episodes as the final ones. I know they still suck at really supporting their shows, but they are a lot better than they were in the past. (Canceling Dark Angel to make Firefly, then immediately screwing over Firefly)
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Bleh. It will be lucky to run 13 weeks
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make a series about Mack Bolan, the Phoenix Force and Able Team. now those were some hard fuckers.
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Give me a Ray Stevenson Punisher series on HBO or Cinemax, but this shit sounds absolutely HORRIBLE. Read this thread Fox and kill this idea in the womb!
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I view the Punisher as a slightly more talkative Jason Voorhees for criminal. I don't like this. Someone do a Daredevil series. He has a legal drama angle you can sell the network, powers that won't break your special effects budget, a great supporting cast and a small but strong rouge's gallery so you don't feel tempted to do villain of the week.
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Oct. 21, 2011, 7:42 a.m. CST
I know I'm in the minority, but I liked Thomas Jane's take on The Punisher
by ATARI
In fact, I even own the special edition DVD.<br> <br> Not great cinema (duh), but enjoyable to watch once every few years.<br> <br>
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Then the actor playing Jigsaw hammed it up waaay too much. God damn directors missing the point. So far I've liked both actors in the role, just the writers/directors don't get it. It's basically DEATH WISH with a skull on his T-shirt. That's all I want. I'm a simple man.
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I don't think it's too much of a minority; I liked Thomas Jane's Punisher a lot...I didn' t think I would... didn't see the Ray Stevenson one. Funny thing is, in that one, he started off as a cop, too! And the Laura Herring factor sure don't hurt, either.
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Funny, I caught "Face/Off" on TV the other night, and one of the first weird criminals that Sean Archer(as Castor Troy) meets in prison is played by a weasely looking Thomas Jane! And the big "Yeti" that attacks him went on to be a sheriff on True Blood...
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If hes a cop by day, how does he hide his identity since the Punisher doesn't wear a mask?
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FUCK YOU, guy. The Ennis MAX series completely fell apart by the end, when they introduced continuity, made it about Frank (and not about the criminals and surrounding characters), and brought in the stupid fucking daughter angle. I have all the TPBs of that series and, seriously, the last 3 or 4 trades are just crap. But the first 5 or 6 trades are all incredible.
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Oct. 21, 2011, 8:34 a.m. CST
If it sucks, it will be cancelled. If it's good, it will be cancelled.
by Stereotypical Evil Archer
They'll FOX it up as usual.
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Seriously, one trade of THE BOYS can be completely enjoyable, hilarious, and fresh. And then the next trade will be an utter drag to read, with "Wee Hughie" and all the other characters having the same beats over and over and over... I guess that's what comics become when they're ongoing series. Ennis can seriously be one of my most hated writers when he's off his game and falls into pure gimmick mode (Tales of the Rifle Brigade: Operation Bollocks for example... how's that for an obscure 11-year-old comics reference?)
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Oct. 21, 2011, 8:45 a.m. CST
Why must every bad-ass comic book character be given a kid?
by Autodidact
Is it because you impotent fucking nerds on average have less babies or something!? Batman has a kid. Apparently Punisher has a kid that I tried to lose the memory of. Superman has a kid in the last movie. I can't fucking stand it.
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and I HATE this idea. Please stop bastardizing Gerry Conway's character!!!!!!!! Frank Castle doesn't exist. He used to, but then his family was killed. Then through Trauma & PSYCHOSIS the Punisher was born. The Punisher takes it upon himself in a skewed perception of justice to punish the guilty for their injustices. He is Dexter with an artillery and not a care in the world except wiping the scum from the face of it. THIS IS NOT THE PUNISHER.
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It sounds pretty cool and I can find next to nothing about it when it comes to details.
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So long as the kid dies in the first episode.
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Oct. 21, 2011, 9:30 a.m. CST
Thomas Jane Punisher. One thing to say about that: Fire Hydrant.
by Autodidact
If you don't know what I'm talking about, there's a ten minute sequence in that movie where Punisher uses fake fire hydrants to get parking tickets on a gangster's wife's car, and then he does some swappy dealy I couldn't really follow, and what happens is the gangster ends up killing his own wife in a jealous fit. HA! REVENGE! ... Because that's what Punisher does: crazy outlandish schemes to manipulate people into killing each other on his behalf. That was sarcasm. The punisher doesn't do that bullshit. That bullshit belongs in an Adam Sandler movie. Punisher uses weapons to turn bad guys into meat, personally. That movie couldn't be more wrong. The Dolph Lundgren version was better. And don't go telling me they were doing the first Garth Ennis punisher series (Welcome Back, Frank). They were doing it very very badly, not getting any of what was good about it into the movie, only the silly parts.
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...and will be added to Peter Griffen's list of cancelled FOX shows quicker than you can say, 'Shut up, Meg!' If you want police procedure, add in the 'Punisher Task Force' and make it like 'The Fugitive', only with assault weapons. Typical TV/Hollywood crap: buy the license to lure the fans and then make it unrecognizable. It's like getting the rights to 'Captain America', and making him Iranian. Douchebags.
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Is it on FOX? Perhaps it was already cancelled.....
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Now.... Don't screw it up.
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They have already screwed it up. NYPD Detective by day, vigilante by night????? FUCK YOU! That is not the Punisher!!!! How hard is it to make an awesome Punisher series?????? It would be one of the simplest characters to get right, and they have already fucked it up before they have even shot a scene. AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
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Oct. 21, 2011, 10:04 a.m. CST
I'm willing to bet that the Punisher in the show will end up being related to Rick Castle, so they can have Castle/Punisher crossovers
by DoctorTom
On the bright side, if they did that it would mean we'd get to see more of Nathan Fillion. Cop by day, vigilante by night - did Bernero write a pilot for Nightwing a few years ago that got rejected, and is now just changing comic companies, crossing out the name Nightwing and writing in Punisher? Hell, if you're going to make him a cop as well as a vigilante, you might as well go screw it up totally and also make him an immortal from the planet Zeist.
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DANGER WILL ROBINSON! DANGER!
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...and just SHIT all over it?
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Oh, wait. I meant the other thing. The one where it's the most moronic thing I've ever heard of. Yea, that's what I meant.
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And the idea of this punisher SUCKS. I have all the punisher comics. I do not approve.
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So it's like The Mentalist only without the intelligence and charm? And a higher body count?
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The Punisher is former Marine who brings the war home and is pushed over the edge when his family is killed by the mob. He's not a cop. He's not an FBI agent. He doesn't moonlight as a vigilante. How hard is it to get such a simple premise right? You'd think that with Dexter, the killer-killing-killers thing would be simple enough to grasp. And, yeah, network TV? Not going to work. I've been following Frank Castle since I was a kid. I keep waiting for Hollywood to do the character justice, and a Sopranos-type show would be ideal. I'll certainly give it a chance, but my expectations are low.
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Oct. 21, 2011, 11:28 a.m. CST
thecat7225--Glasses? yeah glasses, that hasn't been done yet.
by welcometothepartypal
Swoooshhhh!
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The best thing about the books is following the fucked up bad guys, their plans and their stories. Then we cut to Frank for 3 pages as he forms the plan and ties up loose ends. Back to the bad guys and The Punisher showing up and taking em out. The Punisher is a one note guy. Make the stories about the bad guys and he is just the icing on top. AND KEEP IT OFF NETWORK TV. I WILL NOT WATCH THIS.
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much better on TV than in the movies. Keeping my fingers crossed for this one.
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OK....thanks for the heads up. I can not watch this and just wait for FOX to cance lit after two episodes.
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Oct. 21, 2011, 11:54 a.m. CST
Really....how can they fuck-up Frank Castle this bad already?
by Jobacca
Christ...its not like he's the most complicated character in the history of comics. Dudes family got killed so now he kills criminals. And he will never stop. THATS ALL HE DOES!!! He's not a cop,he doesnt have a sidekick and a secret identity. He's like Michael Myers or Jason except he kills mobsters instead of horny campers.
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Hey! Lets alienate the only people who would watch because of name recognition! I bet its produced by Will Smith.
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Nuff said.
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Oct. 21, 2011, 12:41 p.m. CST
RE: "I know I'm in the minority, but I liked Thomas Jane's take on The Punisher"
by Stalkeye
LMMFAO OK, u got Jokes, my friend.
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Oct. 21, 2011, 12:44 p.m. CST
I'd go with FX before FOX and have the guys from The Shield helm this series.
by Stalkeye
otherwise, it'll be as short lived as Bionic Woman (remake) It's not Punisher without the bullets and swearing not to mention, an alter ego?!? DOA
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Unrated version, even better and more Hardcore. But already, this Punisher series is dead on arrival and possibly worse than the Wonder Woman Pilot.
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Oct. 21, 2011, 12:50 p.m. CST
Looking forward having the TV Punisher fire Tranquilizer darts instead of bullets.
by Stalkeye
Oh, and of course there's Tazers and Tear gas that will complete his arsenal. Just kill it already.
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...but with the character using a gun instead of a scalpel and cellophane? I guess that it works for Showtime. Most people have never heard of DEXTER, so they might actually embrace it.
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...should have a voice over like Rorschach in THE WATCHMEN. They seem to have the same views about crime and punishment for the vile.
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The PUNISHER in 3 main parts. 1. Make it part of the Marvel Movie universe. If someone misses an episode, it's like their missing part of the movies! A SHIELD agent will help the FBI from time to time. 2. Make it a procedural police show with conflicted characters. The procedures revolve around tracking the PUNISHER down and analyzing his latest killings. The PUNISHER is not a cop, he's who the FBI are after. The special agents are the true main characters of the show. Their insight, research, and pursuit of the PUNISHER challenges their own ideals of justice and ethics. These are characters we care about, despise, and are addicted to. 3. The PUNISHER only shows up 3 times per episode: First, during the cold open where he does his thing related to the current episode's arc. Second, we see the PUNISHER doing research and recon, sometimes related to the current episode, sometimes related to the "overall mythology." Third we see the PUNISHER do his thing and get away. Sometimes with the help of SHIELD, because SHIELD has a bigger plan. Out of a 43 minute show we should see the PUNISHER for a total of 12 minutes, usually far less than that. The PUNISHER is the name of the show. The PUNISHER is a force to be reckoned with and he must be caught... next week! SO TUNE IN!
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...is what breeds raving, "everything sucks" geeks at sites like aintitcool, and justifiably so. What a worthless idea in nearly every respect. Network tv? Crap. Cop by day, vigilante by night? Crap. Fox is looking to ruin whatever goodwill they created with X-Men First Class... Agree with all the comments above that point out that The Punisher is a one-note character. The series needs to focus on the cast of characters around him. Microchip. Old family friends that may still know where he is. Cops that might have a lead on him. Characters who experience conflict and cognitive dissonance because they know the criminals deserve what Frank is dishing out, but they're shocked by the severity of Frank's vigilantism. You need the criminals to be so bad that the audience can't wait to see what The Punisher unleashes on them and yet, when he does, it's so disturbingly cold and methodical and without release or satisfaction that you feel uncomfortable for wanting in the first place. And Frank feels no satisfaction, no peace from it, not even temporarily (this is how it's unlike Dexter). For Frank, all there is is the next mission. Just adding another voice to the dissenting masses crying, why is this so hard to get right?
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Oct. 21, 2011, 1:19 p.m. CST
Well, that's not The Punisher. I think a new Hulk show could be brilliant though.
by Mr Nicholas
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Punishing.
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The Punisher Max Series by Ennis would be great Punisher material for a tv show. It's the ultimate run. And Mark Valley is the man. He would be a great Punisher. Dolph's Punisher is still the best though. And come on, how hard is it to make a great Punisher tv series?
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Surely the darkness of the material would appeal to a top drawer director like Fincher or Cronenberg. Imagine Viggo as Frank Castle, directed by Cronenberg. That would be fucking awesome!
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Oct. 21, 2011, 2:19 p.m. CST
i always feel like I'm the only person who loved Punisher War Zone
by gk1
cheesey in parts yes, but it was PUNSHER. I was damn near a steven segal movie.
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They're trying to shoehorn the Punisher into the same violent antihero-drama formula that has worked successfully for a lot of other cable shows. Series like Breaking Bad, the Shield, the Sopranos and Dexter are appealing to a wide audience because of the duality of the protagonists and the constant tension caused by their separate lives. Unfortunately, the Punisher is one of the few Marvel characters that wouldn't work in this formula because his whole character revolves on the fact that he lost everything of meaning to him and he commits every last minute of the day to killing as many criminals as possible. The fact that he's completely disconnected from everything is what makes him unique (and somewhat two dimensional). Instead of changing his core characteristics, I think the best approach to a Punisher show would be to make it like No Country for Old Men, where Frank is simply a cold, unstoppable killing force like the Anton Chigurh character and the episodes follow the perspectives of both the people he's hunting down and the cops trying to stop him.
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This just ain't my Punisher
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99% of the people on here (if you don't count the post I made after only reading the words "Punisher TV Series") understand the Punisher, and think this is a HORRIBLE idea. Make a Punisher series. Cast Ray Stevenson. Make it on a cable channel (HBO, SHO, STARZ, etc Hell, even FX or AMC) and make it RIGHT! None of this cop by day vigilante by night BULLSHIT! Nobody is going to watch that. But we will all tune in if it's done right. It would even be a way to have third and fourth tier heroes and villians show up every now and then to remind us that we are in the Marvel Universe. Some of those heroes and villians might even get their own shows or movies eventually if they get popular with fans..... YOU KNOW..JUST LIKE IN COMICS! Scrap this SHIT and do it right.
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They should pay you!
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Will this be another one of those PC Hollywood cop shows that take place in a Bizarro World New York City where all the criminals are white? This isn't 1925. They should make an effort to have the demographics of the criminals actually resemble NYC in 2011.
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Hulk is now a former pro wrestler who got a bad batch of steroids street named 'Gamma'. He now grows green with anger(figuratively) and roid rages out of control. After nearly killing his fiance Betty he takes to the road. Sometimes helping, sometimes almost hurting those he comes across. Fantastic 4: A group of college room mates living together with a group of cameras. Our first Marvel reality series. When a mini meteor crashes into their jacuzzi, the begin to develop super powers. But can they control their new gifts, and their alcohol/drug use? And who's hooking up with the Invisible girl this week? Lets not let Marvel have all the fun. Green Lantern: A young, black, high school drop out from the mean streets of Detroit comes across the Crackerjack prize of a lifetime. But will he use his powers for good, or rape???
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It must be a turd. Fire whoever came up with that turd of an idea. Punisher don't need no stinkin' secret identity. For all intents and purposes, Frank Castle died. He was reborn as the Punisher.
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Daredevil - Hollywood stuntman by day, vigilante by night. He was blinded as boy but his father, a brilliant computer software & hardware designer develops a way for his boy to "see" using a prototype implant. His father was framed (for something) and murdered by his business partner who stole all his ideas and became a multi-billionaire, and who is the main villain of the show. Mike Murdock (testing will show Mike is more appealing to the show's demographic than Matt) lives at home with his mother and kid sister and is driven to prove his father's innocence and reclaim his father's inventions (and all the money they've generated). Other than the evil computer billionaire, his other villains are: The Kingpin - evil overweight owner of a chain of bowling alleys The Gladiator - a martial arts expert who specializes in sword & sandals fighting stuntwork The Owl - an exotic bird smuggler Stilt-Man - a Hollywood Blvd performer (specialty stilt walking) who robs tourists Bullseye - a movie weapons consultant Elektra - a former stunt woman, and Mike's ex girlfriend, now a cat burglar for hire The Blob - a movie blogger with access to all the studios' secrets
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Oct. 21, 2011, 4:50 p.m. CST
Don't you get the feeling that all Hollywood execs are 'Bob Morton'...
by Joaquin_Ondamoon
...from 'Robocop'? Snorting coke off hookers chests and saying stuff like, 'I love intelligent women?' I mean, 60 talkbackers come up with awesome concepts for this show, and yet some douchebag with the control and money to make it happen fucks it up like nobody's business? WTF? Hollywood. One of the few places left on Earth where it pays to be a fuck up.
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An arachnolgist and amateur magician helps his friends and family out of jams using both his magician skills and his knowledge of spiders.
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HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA... That's the stupidest shit I've heard all week! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...Fox...what a bunch of fucktards. People are going to be staying away from this with a damned VENGEANCE. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...
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A Medical Drama revolving around a socially inept Doctor, labelled "Strange" by his colleagues for being so weird and mysterious. He struggles with his own demons while savings lives on a weekly basis. Fox Mondays 9m
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It's not that hard people! But no, once again we have a case of a hollywood 'creative' changing a character out of pure ego and hubris until it isn't the character people love anymore, and then they'll scratch their heads as to just why it failed. Because, you know, the Wonder Woman pilot, the Phantom miniseries, the Catwoman movie and so on apparently didn't provide enough of an example that changing characters until they are barely recognisable doesn't make things better, or more popular. There have been three god damn Punisher movies, and they have fucked up every single one of them. And Frank Castle is not even a hard character to adapt properly. Hell, to put it in hollywood terms, The Punisher is just a darker, more bad tempered version of The Equalizer, so just imagine if Clint Eastwood or Lee Marvin had been The Equalizer and you're most of the way there already. Use the Ennis MAX run as your template and you're all the damn way there. Fuckin' hollywood, man...
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No No No TV land. The Punisher is not Dexter, and this isn't another excuse to throw another fucking cop show on the air. <P> The Punisher is almost like an act of nature. He's fun to watch, but you're not supposed to sympathize with him. The real drama is in those around him who are either his victims, or those who get hurt by association.
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A down on his luck poker ace aquires a very unique superpower one stormy night when he sells his soul to the devil. From now on, when a rival poker player is bluffing in the presence of Gambit, their hand of cards explode in a fireball of fury. Later on Gambit can learn to use this power to tell when someone is lying. Now he must use his special powers to do good in the world, both to save his own soul and to thwart the Antichrist and the coming apocalypse.
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And what in God's name is up with that Straw Dogs Blue-Ray cover? Christ almighty, I think if I had my way I'd require that people take on ten year long apprenticeships and apply for licenses before being allowed to use Photoshop.
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Any show or movie should be about the OTHER characters reacting to his actions. How about introducing mobster type characters that the audience can kind of sympathize with(think SOPRANOS or GOODFELLOWS)? Each week we see more and more of these characters being hunted and tortured and eventually killed by this unstoppable force that is THE PUNISHER. Throw in Detective Soap and Molly as the comic-relief,X-Files type FBI agents on his trail....yeah,just use the Ennis run as a template. Not DEXTER. Not Fucking Criminal Minds. Not CSI. USE THE COMIC!!!!
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and that version sucked majorly.
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w/all those on here who want Castle to appear as a supporting character in his own show. "He's not interesting enough...too one-dimensional..."etc. I never read the comix for the victims or supporting characters, I read it to see Frank Castle as The Punisher kill the fucking bad guys. Like others have said, it's a 70s/80s b-level action movie character, & should be treated as such. Think Charles Bronson w/a skull t-shirt, body armor, & guns...plenty of guns, killing scumbags wherever he finds them. And PS...Ray Stevenson is about as close as you're gonna get today in La-La Land's sea of cookie-cutter, candy-assed, male-model pussies.
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Oct. 22, 2011, 4:58 a.m. CST
The Punisher doesn't make a good protagonist? Bullshit, I say.
by Stegman84
Frank Castle is cut from the exact same cloth as the likes of Snake Plisskin, The Crow, The Man with No Name, Paul 'Death Wish' Kersey, John Rambo, Dirty Harry Callahan, and so on. He's the proto-typical man on a mission, with a side dish of haunted by tragedy. The whole reason that characters like that work so well in cinema and tv is because of their singular purpose, and their refusal to bend or change no matter what. That's their appeal, that's what makes them cool, what makes them compelling to watch. Anyone who doesn't see the potential in Frank Castle as a lead character simply isn't looking very hard.
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guessing the person that said that, never read any of garth ennis' punisher max run.
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which only happened in thel ast 10 minutes of the movie. It was unfortunate the rest of the cast was at tv-movie level mediocrity. And I really hated that he lived in the Apartement of Misfits. It was so cheezy. "No one has ever stood up for us before." (AWWWWWWWWWWW!). I also hated the fat guy in this movie. Oh, how original the fat guy loves to cook!Actually, fat guys love to eat. That's why they invented drive through. I should know I am one. I love to eat crap and it burns too much calories to actually have to cook food. Ray Syevenson was a good Punisher too. It's just too bad he had to kill people in Joe Shumackers batman sets. I liked it when he blew up the Parkour guy with the rocket launcher. ALso Fox is stupid. I doubt this will see the light of day, just like wonder woman. Even if it does, the best way to combat this show is to not watch it.
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The strength of Punisher Max wasn't the Punisher himself, it was the stories he put Frank into that were interesting. You can't take a singular, motive-driven character and expect him to be interesting merely because he's gunning down bad guys. That's 80's Golan-Globus mentality at best. The best Punisher story-lines have always been dependent on compelling secondary characters.
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Agreed.
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I avoided it all, but many trusted sources have said it's actually decent comics.
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Who was literally an angel and could summon guns made of light?
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Marvel property that they've gotten hold of, it's amazing that Disney even takes their calls.
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and the concept a little more in-line with the Punisher mythos than when he turned into an angel!
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Dexter is a stripped down, reworked Punisher. And while yes, The Punisher is very much NOT Dexter. Using elements of Dexter would make the Punisher work for television. For example, the voiceover for Dexter. That is straight out of Punisher: War Journal.
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Cap and Thor were pieces of crap! These two characters deserved much better!
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Bring that show back, if only for the theme tune. http://youtu.be/uB1NiNKwueE
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is a silly little cunt. That is all.
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