Hey everyone,
With The Punisher set to star as a featured character in season two of Daredevil on Netflix, I thought it about time to take a brief look back at his previous animated (with an off topic ramble into his live action) appearances. Enjoy!
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Making his debut as a new Spider-Man villain in Amazing Spider-Man #129 by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru (although his character model was designed by the great John Romita Sr) The Punisher was originally hired by The Jackal to kill Spider-Man, as part of a revenge plot for killing his beloved Gwen Stacey. Spidey was a wanted man at the time, for his place in the apparent murder of Norman Osborn. He didn't stay a Spidey villain very long and became something beyond the standard superhero of the time. While most superheroes had a moral code that forbade them from killing their enemies, The Punisher had no run in with radiation or no mutant gene to gift/curse him with abilities, indeed The Punisher was a Vietnam veteran, whose family was killed in a gangland shooting and he believed in an eye for an eye. He had little use for defence attorneys; The Punisher believes a bullet to the brain is the best solution.
After a few team up appearances in other books, including a memorable confrontation with The Man Without Fear in Frank Miller's celebrated Daredevil run, Marvel eventually took a chance on The Punisher and gave him his limited series in the 80s which soon spawned it's own book, aimed at slightly older market than the traditional comic book readers... I doubt Marvel would revel in the backlash that would've come from a 'hero' murdering villains in cold blood, which is now Castle's trademark, if the book had remained to be aimed at the younger audience. With Frank Miller realising that the audience who read Daredevil weren't children and ignored them to create a grittier crime book and taking the idea that much further would his stir crazy aged Batman in his famous The Dark Knight Returns, it opened up a new audience for comic book readers who were more than happy to ready about an a violent anti-hero and his War Journals.
He became a popular character in the 1990s when the 'anti hero' was more prominent that the traditional superhero and his hardcore vigilante ways were a hit for the first half of the decade. This eventually fell on its arse, like pretty much everything else related to comic books in the late 1990s.
His animation history, like the previous Deadpool retrospective is only brief, so I won't take much of your time (it depends how much I ramble off topic, as always) He actually made it to the big screen before the small screen, as Dolph Lundgren starred in an ill fated Punisher movie in the late 80s. Marvel's movie model at the time was to sell the movie rights to whoever wanted them for some quick cash, as superhero movies weren't a priority for studios following the embarrassing failure of the Superman franchise, which started with a spectacular bang and fumbled downhill at an alarming rate. Between this and the memories of the Adam West Batman series, most of the studios believed grown men and women no longer had an interest in watching superheroes and they were strictly got children. The film was panned by critics for essentially being a never ending fight scene, with little in the way of character development or plot, with cheesy low budget effects. I have only seen the film once on television, and it bears little resemblance to the comic book... His trademark skull does not appear, for example. According to the films Wikipedia page, it was never actually released theatrically in the States due to financing woes, but did receive release in Europe and Australia. I personally seem to recall it not being utterly terrible, but this may be a case of my staggeringly low expectations.... I had been told by all who saw it for over a decade it simply wasn't worth the 90 minutes of my life it would take to watch it, much like the Captain America and Howard The Duck films of the era (Marvel really did suck at making movies until Blade came along). I do remember thinking that most of Lundgren’s dialogue sounding like he was reading from a page, but English isn't his first language and Robert Downey Jr himself couldn't make his lines sound good. Lundgren is of course most famous for playing Ivan Drago in the fourth entry of the spectacular Rocky franchise. I also remember him from my youth as He-Man from Masters of The Universe, a film I greatly enjoyed as a child who was too young to know better. Credit where credit is due, he was one of the few actors available that could pull of He-Man's physique. The score is sensational too.
For those of you who actually came here to read about Marvel animation, well done for making it this far. The Punisher would make 2 cameos in X-Men, first in Days of Future Past as a clever video game character (ironically enough called Assassin, which was Gerry Conways original name for the character, before Stan Lee suggested The Punisher) and as a Mojoworld vision who shots at Wolverine and Jean in their segment.
He would make his first speaking role in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, in the Neogenic Nightmare season. The show was known for its multitude of guest stars, which producer/writer John Semper admits to him being a fan of a good superhero team up in his youth, and I imagine using guest stars for action figures and potential spin offs was never too far away from Avi Arad's mind.
He gets a pretty bad ass introduction scene after he takes out a couple of gang bangers who have kidnapped a wealthy young lady. He explains to the kidnappers that getting a lawyer to get them out after a few years in jail isn't the answer and putting them in the ground is. I especially liked the tap on the shoulder and the kidnapper knowing that he's utterly screwed as soon as he feels it.
Chip, Castles comic book ally also appears in the show, and tells Castle that bringing in Spider-Man, now accused of attacking, hospitalising and kidnapping Michael Morbius, will get him in the good graces with the law, providing he brings him in alive. Which makes for a plausible reason for toning down Punisher's violent ways, which the BS+P standards would not approve of in any way, shape or form in this show. His usual guns and pistols are replaced with lasers and things of that sort... The shoe was not allowed to depict realistic firearms, which oddly enough, Batman was permitted to do on the same network. According to supervising producer Bob Richardson, Batman's visual style allowed them to get away with more, whereas Spider-Man's contemporary setting did not. Baffling logic, but it was what it was.
The Punisher actually fought six armed Spider-Man as Spidey had unwisely taken an untested formula designed to reverse his mutation disease, which only accelerated it. One of Spidey's best lines from the show comes as they meet
Punisher: Spider-Man, your days of terrorising the innocent are over!
Spidey: Let me guess, the costume, the attitude, well your name must be bonehead.
Character model wise... It's close to Punisher, but so far away. The show was one of the first to utilise digital ink and colouring, and it came with obvious teething problems. The characters had little black as the show obviously struggled with it... the Venom model in the first season being a prime example, especially at night. To counter act this, Castle's traditional black costume is turned teal. Possibly the least intimidating colour for a vigilante... It doesn't work. A dark blue, purple, grey... Any of these would have worked better than teal. It was an odd design, in an annoying way because the rest of it works. I'm not sure about the headband, but the trenchcoat, boots and gloves work wonderfully. Just teal... What were they thinking? Toy Biz's figure would be based on his comic book design, with the black suit and white boots and gloves. It is one of the best figures from this shows toyline, which was one of the best of its time. Strong articulation, a wide selection of characters and until it's end, not a stupid reprint of Spider-Man with ridiculous gimmicks in sight. Toy Biz clearly saw Spider-Man: The Animated Series as its bread and butter and took pride in its product.
![URL]](http://%5BURL%5Dhttp://marvel.toonzone.net/spideytas/bios/heroes/punisher/10.jpg%5B/URL%5D)
Duel of The Hunters confines the Neogenic Nightmare storyline as Spidey transforms into Man Spider as The Punisher is closing into his location and Castle confronts the creature, unaware of Spidey's metamorphosis. He retreats and Dr Kafka calls Sergai Kravonoff into help hunt Spidey down to administer her cure. The episode is a refreshing change of pace as Man Spider can't speak so Spidey doesn't narrate the story, the majority of it is told from Kraven or Kafka's point of view. It wouldn't make sense for Spidey to speak or for us to here his inner monologues, but there is defiantly some of Peter still in there as he attempts to retrieve the Neogenic Recombinator and remembers Flash and MJ. He eventually lures Castle into a trap and there's a really cool visual of him cocooning Frank in his webs and brings him into the abandoned World Trade Centre Car Park (the show is pre 2001 obviously, the Twin Towers could be seen in the background for most episodes but Disney XD would bizarrely edit them out in their post 9/11 viewings.)
Kraven and Punisher eventually team up and trap Man Spider and Dr Kafka gives Spidey his cure and in a nice touch, Castle drapes his coat over his Spidey's face and offers Spidey his mask back to him. I remember the days when Spider-Man's secret identity was a big deal, now no one seems to bat an eyelid when he is unmasked. I remember reading Ultimate Spider-Man and being bemused as to how many people knew Parker was Spider-Man. It reached ridiculous levels.
The episode does flashback to Castles origin... We obviously don't see his wife and kids gunned down, but we do hear the gunfire. It was an actual gunshot too, I can't imagine how cheesy it would've been if we'd heard a laser go off instead of a round. Chip comments that they shouldn't be going after Man Spider as they hunt criminals, not monsters, while Castle comments that they are the same thing and that's exactly what he hunts.
John Beck voices Punisher and he does an excellent job of it. He sounds hard as nails without forcing it or putting it on but there's an underlying tortured sound to his voice. It's point on for Punisher. No melodramatic casting here.
Punisher would return in Return of The Green Goblin, in which he visits his family's graves and meets Anna Watson, MJ's Aunt, speaking to get late husband, who confides in Castle that her niece is now missing and she is sure Peter Parker had something to do with it. Looking to bring some joy to someone, anyone's, life, Castle says he will look into it. It odd to see Anna invite Frank into her house to discuss the matter in his full Punisher garb, and slightly absurd when you think about it further.
![URL]](http://%5BURL%5Dhttp://marvel.toonzone.net/spideytas/episode/returnofthegg/05.jpg%5B/URL%5D)
Castle then goes hunting Parker and deduces that Parker is actually The Green Goblin, citing his obsession with Spider-Man (or taking pictures of him) and when MJ dumped Parker for Harry Osborn, he snapped and because The Green Goblin and kidnapped her. Which, from and outsider not knowing Parker is actually Spider-Man, makes sense I suppose. It's a shame for Castle that The Green Goblin actually turns up and drops a deuce all over his theory, which Parker responds with an amusing 'Well that must be me up there!'
The episode is disappointing as one struggles to feel any sympathy for he utterly annoying Osborn Jr, and the drama of Peter fighting his best friend is lacking. The Punisher actually adds an extra dimension to the episode rather than being another needless character like some of the team ups in this show were and the most interesting parts of episode are him confronting Parker about his other identity and when he captures Harry and brings him to Parker's house and leaves Parker defenceless against his questioning before MJ actually returns. (Or her clone did, but I won't bore you with another rant about that again.)
I did like how Parker was nervous around The Punisher, but almost brushes him off as soon as he puts his Spidey suit on, his attitude towards Punisher is so blasé when he easily webs him up to stop him in his tracks and flees Oscorp. Barnes was awesome as Spidey whenever he got the chance to take the piss out of his opponents. This probably wouldn't happen in today's Spider-Man books, he would probably use his Spidey powers without his costume and foolishly give up his secret identity.
Punisher leaves the episode being happy for the first time in ages, and he tells Chip that this is the first time in a long time he's felt human again. As far as Marvel cartoons in the 90s go, this would be his last appearance. Neither Hulk, Iron Man or The Fantastic Four, three team up heavy shows, had room for an appearance and he was mercifully spared for an appearance in Spider-Man: Unlimited, The Avengers: United They Stand and Silver Surfer. He also made no appearance in MTV Spider-Man show, where he would be fit right in, or the X-Men: Evolution show, which he would not.
The Punisher would make his return to the big screen in 2004, in another one of Avi Arad's attempts to get as many Marvel movies in theatres as possible.
Artisan developed the film. The studio was eventually bought out by Lions Gate, and clearly didn't have a great deal of money to develop the property. It was wisely decided that the show should be rated R, as there was no way to do Punisher properly if it was rated PG13.
Tom Jane was announced as The Punisher to fairly little fanfare as he didn't have a massive body of work at the time. The first image of a blonde Punisher with a cheap looking T Shirt soon made its way online... Whether or not this was a failed costume test I do not know, but it was fixed before the film was released... This could've been due to the reaction the picture received, but he had black hair by the time the film was released. He apparently turned down roles in X-Men as he had no interest in being in a superhero movie. I imagine the massive success of Spider-Man soon caused him to change his tune.
Hype for the film wasn't massive fat the time, as superhero fans were no doubt far more excited for Spider-Man 2, as this was back when Spidey was THE franchise... How things change.
Jonathan Hensleigh was hired to write and direct the feature. He was best known to me as the screenwriter for Die Hard With A Vengeance, one of my favourite movies. Given what a likeable, bad ass version but ultimately flawed (hungover) hero he made in John McClane, I thought he'd do a decent job and we'd at least get some decent lines of Castle. McClane has some absolute gems in the Die Hard threequel.
McClane: Hey f-ckhead! Yeah, you, f-ckhead! There's just one thing I gotta know... you got any asprins? 'Cause I've had a bad f-cking headache all day long!
There's gold in the federal reserve and somebody took a sh-tload of it!
In promoting the movie, Hensleigh stated he intended to make the mother of all revenge films, and he wanted to use practical stunts instead of computer generated effects... I took this with a pinch of salt and thought the lack of CG would likely be due to budgetary concerns. The film was also shot and set in Miami, which is far too nice a location for a dark revenge flick. It immediately set my spider sense tingling that this was going to be a film done on the cheap, to be blunt. My main concern during the build up was the release date... It was to debut on the same day as Quentin Tarentino's Kill Bill and I thought it would get slaughtered at the box office.
Finally the film was released... It's all right. It sort of lingers in the middle of average but occasionally dwindles into the cheesy territory. Hensleigh did not skimp on the violence but the film is bleak and doesn't have much, if anything in the way of humour. There's nary a laugh to be found at all... No Stan Lee cameo to lighten the mood in this one.
![URL]](http://%5BURL%5Dhttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d9/Punisher_ver2.jpg/220px-Punisher_ver2.jpg%5B/URL%5D)
The plot explains Castle's origins and the slaughter of his family. I felt they overdid it a bit to be honest, the death of his wife and kid would have been motivation enough, but his entire family was killed, Mum and Dad, cousins, uncles.... It was a massacre. With the exception of his Dad, son and wife, none of these people are developed. The death of one is a tragedy, the death of a million is just a statistic and all that. Left for dead following the death of his family and presumed dead himself, Castle returns to his old FBI office and realises that not one arrest has been made and goes about taking the law into his own hands.
Casting wise, Jane is a decent Punisher. Bleak, but the script offered him little else to do. No genius McClane lines here. John Travolta, the original JT, plays the lead villain here Howard Saint, who has it in for Castle following the death of his son during an Castle orchestrated drug bust. I enjoyed him in the role. For comic book fans, Spacker Dave, Joan and Bumpo from Welcome back, Frank appear as Castle's neighbours. For the mandatory wrestler reference Kevin Nash (Diesel for the older ones amongst you) plays The Russain. I vaguely recall that Nash was announced to actually be playing Tombstone, and the producers requested he cut his hair for the role. The fight with The Russian is the highlight of the movie... It's especially brutal, especially when he bores the boiling pan over his face and there's actually some small glimpses of comedy and Castle combats his giant opponent.
Eventually, the critics weren't kind to The Punisher, with most branding it a cheerlessly dark movie, with most of it having been done before, but better. It was also the first theatrically released Marvel movie not to reach #1 at the Box Office, indeed Bill killed The Punisher. A sequel was considered, on the basis that the returns from the DVD warranted it. It sold well enough, and Avi Arad would constantly advise its in production (much like Hulk, he wasn't willing to let go of this sequel).
Hensleigh eventually had his say on the film, advising that his putrid shooting budget was eventually slashed and the executives salaries took up far more cash than the actual production.
Tom Jane eventually dropped out, and confessed that he was heartbroken about the move because he was wasn't happy with the direction.
"What I won't do is spend months of my life sweating over a movie that I just don't believe in. I've always loved the Marvel guys, and wish them well. Meanwhile, I'll continue to search for a film that one day might stand with all those films that the fans have asked me to watch."
I imagine maintaining his Punisher physique for a movie that never seemed to move ahead wasn't a pleasurable experience for Jane. A sequel was eventually announced as Punisher: War Zone which eventually became a reboot which essentially existed to keep the rights to the character (which is always, ALWAYS a recipe for a box office disaster).
I recall thinking everything about the film looked and sounded terrible and that it sounded like even releasing it was a mistake. Jane noticeably distanced himself from the project and there was pre release buzz that Lion Gates and had fired or restricted director Lexi Axelander from the set.
I can tell you that it was enough to put me off seeing it, and I've suffered through a lot of crap in my day (I have websites to prove it.) I couldn't actually tell you if it was released theatrically here in Yorkshire or not. The box office return was utterly feeble, and the reviews were mainly of the opinion that it's not worth the two hours of your time to view it. I did eventually rent the DVD and agreed with the majority. Castle is woefully underdeveloped and there's not much to the rest of the characters. Jigsaw's origin sequence is painful to look at, but the highlight of the film is his sidekick Looney Bin Jim, which admittedly isn't much. Fans of the comic book might appreciate the appearance of Castle's sidekick Microship but that's about your lot.
The director, Lexi Alexander apparently rewrote the script from scratch and clearly doesn't understand Castle or what makes for a good film... There isn't even any enjoyment in a so bad it's good kind of way. When she gets on her high horse on Twitter about the lack of female directors given opportunities to direct big Hollywood properties, she needs to stop pointing the finger at others and accept some blame... If this film had been any good, it would add a lot more merit to her rants. Based on this, and her basic inability to understand basic fundamentals of filmmaking, I wouldn't blame any studio executive in the world for not hiring her. The rights to The Punisher reverted back to Marvel after this and any pipe dreams about a fourth Punisher movie quickly went up in flames.
For those of you who actually came here to read about his appearances in animation, Ray Stevenson would actually reprise his role from War Zone in Superhero Squad. I haven't seen it, but I really can't imagine him fitting in with the tone of the show. Can anyone who has elaborate on his appearance?
Since this piece is brief on animation, I thought I would actually watch the Black Widow/Punisher anime movie. I don't normally cover or even watch these anime feature/shows (they just aren't for me) but I saw it on Netflix and wanted to watch something while I did my ironing (the life of a bachelor, I am afraid.)
The story sees Punisher after a druglord who happens to be on SHIELD's radar for far bigger crimes and following Black Widow's intervention, the druglord escapes. Fury agrees to release Castle to pursue him, on the condition that Black Widow tags along.
While the film is a little alien to what I usually sit through, it's not bad... I can't see me rushing to watch it again. The subplot between Widow and her would be ex-boyfriend comes from far out left field and the pacing is a little off... Punisher seems to disappear from the action far too frequently for far too long, but what is here is decent enough.
I confess to not watching anime, but this seemed to be catered more towards American audiences than Japanese, and the silly facial expressions were kept to a minimum. Black Widows character model is of the typical impossible anime model with a massive backside and chest which looks like it's about to pop out of her clothes at any moment, but tiny waste and stomach. Castle fairs better and the animation is strong throughout and the backgrounds are much richer than anything produced in American animation. Special mention must go to the Iron Man model, whereas it looks like it was assisted with some CG imagery, it looks fantastic, far better than the tepid model we currently have in Avengers Assemble. Casting wise, it's also a lot better than the American shows we have now... I would happily replace the actors from this feature from the AA cast... I confess to never having warned to any of them, Tarascoire as Hulk aside (Fred actually plays Hulk here too, or his growls, because the universe, to a person has pretty much accepted that Tarascoire is Hulk's voice, and he doesn't need replacing)
I can't say I would rush to watch s sequel to this, but it was something I enjoyed watching while I finished my ironing.
Speaking of Avengers Assemble, Punisher would make a brief cameo in Planet Doom. I can't say I care for the design, but I don't think this show is visually exciting in the last, it's a drab looking show but the character model and flat colouring this show offers is the least of its worries.
And finally we come to our conclusion, with Punisher serving as one of the central characters for Daredevil season two, with a spin off show now rumoured. While I don't anticipate seeing him (or Daredevil) animated anytime soon, given the current state of Marvel Animation, this isn't a bad thing, but Castle on Netflix? I am all over that... If it's anything like the quality of Daredevil and Jessica Jones, it's sounds like Punisher might finally be done justice.
With The Punisher set to star as a featured character in season two of Daredevil on Netflix, I thought it about time to take a brief look back at his previous animated (with an off topic ramble into his live action) appearances. Enjoy!
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Making his debut as a new Spider-Man villain in Amazing Spider-Man #129 by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru (although his character model was designed by the great John Romita Sr) The Punisher was originally hired by The Jackal to kill Spider-Man, as part of a revenge plot for killing his beloved Gwen Stacey. Spidey was a wanted man at the time, for his place in the apparent murder of Norman Osborn. He didn't stay a Spidey villain very long and became something beyond the standard superhero of the time. While most superheroes had a moral code that forbade them from killing their enemies, The Punisher had no run in with radiation or no mutant gene to gift/curse him with abilities, indeed The Punisher was a Vietnam veteran, whose family was killed in a gangland shooting and he believed in an eye for an eye. He had little use for defence attorneys; The Punisher believes a bullet to the brain is the best solution.
After a few team up appearances in other books, including a memorable confrontation with The Man Without Fear in Frank Miller's celebrated Daredevil run, Marvel eventually took a chance on The Punisher and gave him his limited series in the 80s which soon spawned it's own book, aimed at slightly older market than the traditional comic book readers... I doubt Marvel would revel in the backlash that would've come from a 'hero' murdering villains in cold blood, which is now Castle's trademark, if the book had remained to be aimed at the younger audience. With Frank Miller realising that the audience who read Daredevil weren't children and ignored them to create a grittier crime book and taking the idea that much further would his stir crazy aged Batman in his famous The Dark Knight Returns, it opened up a new audience for comic book readers who were more than happy to ready about an a violent anti-hero and his War Journals.
He became a popular character in the 1990s when the 'anti hero' was more prominent that the traditional superhero and his hardcore vigilante ways were a hit for the first half of the decade. This eventually fell on its arse, like pretty much everything else related to comic books in the late 1990s.
His animation history, like the previous Deadpool retrospective is only brief, so I won't take much of your time (it depends how much I ramble off topic, as always) He actually made it to the big screen before the small screen, as Dolph Lundgren starred in an ill fated Punisher movie in the late 80s. Marvel's movie model at the time was to sell the movie rights to whoever wanted them for some quick cash, as superhero movies weren't a priority for studios following the embarrassing failure of the Superman franchise, which started with a spectacular bang and fumbled downhill at an alarming rate. Between this and the memories of the Adam West Batman series, most of the studios believed grown men and women no longer had an interest in watching superheroes and they were strictly got children. The film was panned by critics for essentially being a never ending fight scene, with little in the way of character development or plot, with cheesy low budget effects. I have only seen the film once on television, and it bears little resemblance to the comic book... His trademark skull does not appear, for example. According to the films Wikipedia page, it was never actually released theatrically in the States due to financing woes, but did receive release in Europe and Australia. I personally seem to recall it not being utterly terrible, but this may be a case of my staggeringly low expectations.... I had been told by all who saw it for over a decade it simply wasn't worth the 90 minutes of my life it would take to watch it, much like the Captain America and Howard The Duck films of the era (Marvel really did suck at making movies until Blade came along). I do remember thinking that most of Lundgren’s dialogue sounding like he was reading from a page, but English isn't his first language and Robert Downey Jr himself couldn't make his lines sound good. Lundgren is of course most famous for playing Ivan Drago in the fourth entry of the spectacular Rocky franchise. I also remember him from my youth as He-Man from Masters of The Universe, a film I greatly enjoyed as a child who was too young to know better. Credit where credit is due, he was one of the few actors available that could pull of He-Man's physique. The score is sensational too.
For those of you who actually came here to read about Marvel animation, well done for making it this far. The Punisher would make 2 cameos in X-Men, first in Days of Future Past as a clever video game character (ironically enough called Assassin, which was Gerry Conways original name for the character, before Stan Lee suggested The Punisher) and as a Mojoworld vision who shots at Wolverine and Jean in their segment.
He would make his first speaking role in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, in the Neogenic Nightmare season. The show was known for its multitude of guest stars, which producer/writer John Semper admits to him being a fan of a good superhero team up in his youth, and I imagine using guest stars for action figures and potential spin offs was never too far away from Avi Arad's mind.
He gets a pretty bad ass introduction scene after he takes out a couple of gang bangers who have kidnapped a wealthy young lady. He explains to the kidnappers that getting a lawyer to get them out after a few years in jail isn't the answer and putting them in the ground is. I especially liked the tap on the shoulder and the kidnapper knowing that he's utterly screwed as soon as he feels it.
Chip, Castles comic book ally also appears in the show, and tells Castle that bringing in Spider-Man, now accused of attacking, hospitalising and kidnapping Michael Morbius, will get him in the good graces with the law, providing he brings him in alive. Which makes for a plausible reason for toning down Punisher's violent ways, which the BS+P standards would not approve of in any way, shape or form in this show. His usual guns and pistols are replaced with lasers and things of that sort... The shoe was not allowed to depict realistic firearms, which oddly enough, Batman was permitted to do on the same network. According to supervising producer Bob Richardson, Batman's visual style allowed them to get away with more, whereas Spider-Man's contemporary setting did not. Baffling logic, but it was what it was.
The Punisher actually fought six armed Spider-Man as Spidey had unwisely taken an untested formula designed to reverse his mutation disease, which only accelerated it. One of Spidey's best lines from the show comes as they meet
Punisher: Spider-Man, your days of terrorising the innocent are over!
Spidey: Let me guess, the costume, the attitude, well your name must be bonehead.
Character model wise... It's close to Punisher, but so far away. The show was one of the first to utilise digital ink and colouring, and it came with obvious teething problems. The characters had little black as the show obviously struggled with it... the Venom model in the first season being a prime example, especially at night. To counter act this, Castle's traditional black costume is turned teal. Possibly the least intimidating colour for a vigilante... It doesn't work. A dark blue, purple, grey... Any of these would have worked better than teal. It was an odd design, in an annoying way because the rest of it works. I'm not sure about the headband, but the trenchcoat, boots and gloves work wonderfully. Just teal... What were they thinking? Toy Biz's figure would be based on his comic book design, with the black suit and white boots and gloves. It is one of the best figures from this shows toyline, which was one of the best of its time. Strong articulation, a wide selection of characters and until it's end, not a stupid reprint of Spider-Man with ridiculous gimmicks in sight. Toy Biz clearly saw Spider-Man: The Animated Series as its bread and butter and took pride in its product.
Duel of The Hunters confines the Neogenic Nightmare storyline as Spidey transforms into Man Spider as The Punisher is closing into his location and Castle confronts the creature, unaware of Spidey's metamorphosis. He retreats and Dr Kafka calls Sergai Kravonoff into help hunt Spidey down to administer her cure. The episode is a refreshing change of pace as Man Spider can't speak so Spidey doesn't narrate the story, the majority of it is told from Kraven or Kafka's point of view. It wouldn't make sense for Spidey to speak or for us to here his inner monologues, but there is defiantly some of Peter still in there as he attempts to retrieve the Neogenic Recombinator and remembers Flash and MJ. He eventually lures Castle into a trap and there's a really cool visual of him cocooning Frank in his webs and brings him into the abandoned World Trade Centre Car Park (the show is pre 2001 obviously, the Twin Towers could be seen in the background for most episodes but Disney XD would bizarrely edit them out in their post 9/11 viewings.)
Kraven and Punisher eventually team up and trap Man Spider and Dr Kafka gives Spidey his cure and in a nice touch, Castle drapes his coat over his Spidey's face and offers Spidey his mask back to him. I remember the days when Spider-Man's secret identity was a big deal, now no one seems to bat an eyelid when he is unmasked. I remember reading Ultimate Spider-Man and being bemused as to how many people knew Parker was Spider-Man. It reached ridiculous levels.
The episode does flashback to Castles origin... We obviously don't see his wife and kids gunned down, but we do hear the gunfire. It was an actual gunshot too, I can't imagine how cheesy it would've been if we'd heard a laser go off instead of a round. Chip comments that they shouldn't be going after Man Spider as they hunt criminals, not monsters, while Castle comments that they are the same thing and that's exactly what he hunts.
John Beck voices Punisher and he does an excellent job of it. He sounds hard as nails without forcing it or putting it on but there's an underlying tortured sound to his voice. It's point on for Punisher. No melodramatic casting here.
Punisher would return in Return of The Green Goblin, in which he visits his family's graves and meets Anna Watson, MJ's Aunt, speaking to get late husband, who confides in Castle that her niece is now missing and she is sure Peter Parker had something to do with it. Looking to bring some joy to someone, anyone's, life, Castle says he will look into it. It odd to see Anna invite Frank into her house to discuss the matter in his full Punisher garb, and slightly absurd when you think about it further.
Castle then goes hunting Parker and deduces that Parker is actually The Green Goblin, citing his obsession with Spider-Man (or taking pictures of him) and when MJ dumped Parker for Harry Osborn, he snapped and because The Green Goblin and kidnapped her. Which, from and outsider not knowing Parker is actually Spider-Man, makes sense I suppose. It's a shame for Castle that The Green Goblin actually turns up and drops a deuce all over his theory, which Parker responds with an amusing 'Well that must be me up there!'
The episode is disappointing as one struggles to feel any sympathy for he utterly annoying Osborn Jr, and the drama of Peter fighting his best friend is lacking. The Punisher actually adds an extra dimension to the episode rather than being another needless character like some of the team ups in this show were and the most interesting parts of episode are him confronting Parker about his other identity and when he captures Harry and brings him to Parker's house and leaves Parker defenceless against his questioning before MJ actually returns. (Or her clone did, but I won't bore you with another rant about that again.)
I did like how Parker was nervous around The Punisher, but almost brushes him off as soon as he puts his Spidey suit on, his attitude towards Punisher is so blasé when he easily webs him up to stop him in his tracks and flees Oscorp. Barnes was awesome as Spidey whenever he got the chance to take the piss out of his opponents. This probably wouldn't happen in today's Spider-Man books, he would probably use his Spidey powers without his costume and foolishly give up his secret identity.
Punisher leaves the episode being happy for the first time in ages, and he tells Chip that this is the first time in a long time he's felt human again. As far as Marvel cartoons in the 90s go, this would be his last appearance. Neither Hulk, Iron Man or The Fantastic Four, three team up heavy shows, had room for an appearance and he was mercifully spared for an appearance in Spider-Man: Unlimited, The Avengers: United They Stand and Silver Surfer. He also made no appearance in MTV Spider-Man show, where he would be fit right in, or the X-Men: Evolution show, which he would not.
The Punisher would make his return to the big screen in 2004, in another one of Avi Arad's attempts to get as many Marvel movies in theatres as possible.
Artisan developed the film. The studio was eventually bought out by Lions Gate, and clearly didn't have a great deal of money to develop the property. It was wisely decided that the show should be rated R, as there was no way to do Punisher properly if it was rated PG13.
Tom Jane was announced as The Punisher to fairly little fanfare as he didn't have a massive body of work at the time. The first image of a blonde Punisher with a cheap looking T Shirt soon made its way online... Whether or not this was a failed costume test I do not know, but it was fixed before the film was released... This could've been due to the reaction the picture received, but he had black hair by the time the film was released. He apparently turned down roles in X-Men as he had no interest in being in a superhero movie. I imagine the massive success of Spider-Man soon caused him to change his tune.
Hype for the film wasn't massive fat the time, as superhero fans were no doubt far more excited for Spider-Man 2, as this was back when Spidey was THE franchise... How things change.
Jonathan Hensleigh was hired to write and direct the feature. He was best known to me as the screenwriter for Die Hard With A Vengeance, one of my favourite movies. Given what a likeable, bad ass version but ultimately flawed (hungover) hero he made in John McClane, I thought he'd do a decent job and we'd at least get some decent lines of Castle. McClane has some absolute gems in the Die Hard threequel.
McClane: Hey f-ckhead! Yeah, you, f-ckhead! There's just one thing I gotta know... you got any asprins? 'Cause I've had a bad f-cking headache all day long!
There's gold in the federal reserve and somebody took a sh-tload of it!
In promoting the movie, Hensleigh stated he intended to make the mother of all revenge films, and he wanted to use practical stunts instead of computer generated effects... I took this with a pinch of salt and thought the lack of CG would likely be due to budgetary concerns. The film was also shot and set in Miami, which is far too nice a location for a dark revenge flick. It immediately set my spider sense tingling that this was going to be a film done on the cheap, to be blunt. My main concern during the build up was the release date... It was to debut on the same day as Quentin Tarentino's Kill Bill and I thought it would get slaughtered at the box office.
Finally the film was released... It's all right. It sort of lingers in the middle of average but occasionally dwindles into the cheesy territory. Hensleigh did not skimp on the violence but the film is bleak and doesn't have much, if anything in the way of humour. There's nary a laugh to be found at all... No Stan Lee cameo to lighten the mood in this one.
The plot explains Castle's origins and the slaughter of his family. I felt they overdid it a bit to be honest, the death of his wife and kid would have been motivation enough, but his entire family was killed, Mum and Dad, cousins, uncles.... It was a massacre. With the exception of his Dad, son and wife, none of these people are developed. The death of one is a tragedy, the death of a million is just a statistic and all that. Left for dead following the death of his family and presumed dead himself, Castle returns to his old FBI office and realises that not one arrest has been made and goes about taking the law into his own hands.
Casting wise, Jane is a decent Punisher. Bleak, but the script offered him little else to do. No genius McClane lines here. John Travolta, the original JT, plays the lead villain here Howard Saint, who has it in for Castle following the death of his son during an Castle orchestrated drug bust. I enjoyed him in the role. For comic book fans, Spacker Dave, Joan and Bumpo from Welcome back, Frank appear as Castle's neighbours. For the mandatory wrestler reference Kevin Nash (Diesel for the older ones amongst you) plays The Russain. I vaguely recall that Nash was announced to actually be playing Tombstone, and the producers requested he cut his hair for the role. The fight with The Russian is the highlight of the movie... It's especially brutal, especially when he bores the boiling pan over his face and there's actually some small glimpses of comedy and Castle combats his giant opponent.
Eventually, the critics weren't kind to The Punisher, with most branding it a cheerlessly dark movie, with most of it having been done before, but better. It was also the first theatrically released Marvel movie not to reach #1 at the Box Office, indeed Bill killed The Punisher. A sequel was considered, on the basis that the returns from the DVD warranted it. It sold well enough, and Avi Arad would constantly advise its in production (much like Hulk, he wasn't willing to let go of this sequel).
Hensleigh eventually had his say on the film, advising that his putrid shooting budget was eventually slashed and the executives salaries took up far more cash than the actual production.
Tom Jane eventually dropped out, and confessed that he was heartbroken about the move because he was wasn't happy with the direction.
"What I won't do is spend months of my life sweating over a movie that I just don't believe in. I've always loved the Marvel guys, and wish them well. Meanwhile, I'll continue to search for a film that one day might stand with all those films that the fans have asked me to watch."
I imagine maintaining his Punisher physique for a movie that never seemed to move ahead wasn't a pleasurable experience for Jane. A sequel was eventually announced as Punisher: War Zone which eventually became a reboot which essentially existed to keep the rights to the character (which is always, ALWAYS a recipe for a box office disaster).
I recall thinking everything about the film looked and sounded terrible and that it sounded like even releasing it was a mistake. Jane noticeably distanced himself from the project and there was pre release buzz that Lion Gates and had fired or restricted director Lexi Axelander from the set.
I can tell you that it was enough to put me off seeing it, and I've suffered through a lot of crap in my day (I have websites to prove it.) I couldn't actually tell you if it was released theatrically here in Yorkshire or not. The box office return was utterly feeble, and the reviews were mainly of the opinion that it's not worth the two hours of your time to view it. I did eventually rent the DVD and agreed with the majority. Castle is woefully underdeveloped and there's not much to the rest of the characters. Jigsaw's origin sequence is painful to look at, but the highlight of the film is his sidekick Looney Bin Jim, which admittedly isn't much. Fans of the comic book might appreciate the appearance of Castle's sidekick Microship but that's about your lot.
The director, Lexi Alexander apparently rewrote the script from scratch and clearly doesn't understand Castle or what makes for a good film... There isn't even any enjoyment in a so bad it's good kind of way. When she gets on her high horse on Twitter about the lack of female directors given opportunities to direct big Hollywood properties, she needs to stop pointing the finger at others and accept some blame... If this film had been any good, it would add a lot more merit to her rants. Based on this, and her basic inability to understand basic fundamentals of filmmaking, I wouldn't blame any studio executive in the world for not hiring her. The rights to The Punisher reverted back to Marvel after this and any pipe dreams about a fourth Punisher movie quickly went up in flames.
For those of you who actually came here to read about his appearances in animation, Ray Stevenson would actually reprise his role from War Zone in Superhero Squad. I haven't seen it, but I really can't imagine him fitting in with the tone of the show. Can anyone who has elaborate on his appearance?
Since this piece is brief on animation, I thought I would actually watch the Black Widow/Punisher anime movie. I don't normally cover or even watch these anime feature/shows (they just aren't for me) but I saw it on Netflix and wanted to watch something while I did my ironing (the life of a bachelor, I am afraid.)
The story sees Punisher after a druglord who happens to be on SHIELD's radar for far bigger crimes and following Black Widow's intervention, the druglord escapes. Fury agrees to release Castle to pursue him, on the condition that Black Widow tags along.
While the film is a little alien to what I usually sit through, it's not bad... I can't see me rushing to watch it again. The subplot between Widow and her would be ex-boyfriend comes from far out left field and the pacing is a little off... Punisher seems to disappear from the action far too frequently for far too long, but what is here is decent enough.
I confess to not watching anime, but this seemed to be catered more towards American audiences than Japanese, and the silly facial expressions were kept to a minimum. Black Widows character model is of the typical impossible anime model with a massive backside and chest which looks like it's about to pop out of her clothes at any moment, but tiny waste and stomach. Castle fairs better and the animation is strong throughout and the backgrounds are much richer than anything produced in American animation. Special mention must go to the Iron Man model, whereas it looks like it was assisted with some CG imagery, it looks fantastic, far better than the tepid model we currently have in Avengers Assemble. Casting wise, it's also a lot better than the American shows we have now... I would happily replace the actors from this feature from the AA cast... I confess to never having warned to any of them, Tarascoire as Hulk aside (Fred actually plays Hulk here too, or his growls, because the universe, to a person has pretty much accepted that Tarascoire is Hulk's voice, and he doesn't need replacing)
I can't say I would rush to watch s sequel to this, but it was something I enjoyed watching while I finished my ironing.
Speaking of Avengers Assemble, Punisher would make a brief cameo in Planet Doom. I can't say I care for the design, but I don't think this show is visually exciting in the last, it's a drab looking show but the character model and flat colouring this show offers is the least of its worries.
And finally we come to our conclusion, with Punisher serving as one of the central characters for Daredevil season two, with a spin off show now rumoured. While I don't anticipate seeing him (or Daredevil) animated anytime soon, given the current state of Marvel Animation, this isn't a bad thing, but Castle on Netflix? I am all over that... If it's anything like the quality of Daredevil and Jessica Jones, it's sounds like Punisher might finally be done justice.
