It’s easy to forget in the face of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 15 years of all-conquering domination that the comic book company’s characters largely struggled to make an impact on the big screen before Kevin Feige ascended to power, and there’s no better example to use than the many failed attempts to adapt The Punisher.
Dolph Lundgren was the first to try his hand at playing Frank Castle, only for his stint as the gun-toting vigilante to end up as little more than a cult curiosity. A decade and a half later, Thomas Jane inherited the mantle in a largely underrated reboot that even had a sequel enter development prior to underwhelming box office returns rendering it obsolete.
The late Ray Stevenson was next to step in and headline the gloriously deranged Punisher: War Zone, which ended up tanking even harder than its predecessor. Netflix finally got it right after casting Jon Bernthal in the part to debut in Daredevil before he went on to enjoy two seasons of his own solo series, but seeing as Daredevil: Born Again has been confirmed to exist independently of its forebear, Bernthal’s return technically means he’s playing a different version of the vengeful outlaw.
In short, if we include Born Again as a brand new project, then we’ll be getting five different iterations of the antihero played by four actors across three production companies and two streaming services, which hammers home just how difficult it is to get the Punisher right. It’s the 2004 vintage that’s playing like gangbusters on Netflix, though, with FlixPatrol naming Jane’s one-and-done endeavor as one of the platform’s most-watched movies this weekend.