Before Jon Bernthal. Before Ray Stevenson. Before Thomas Jane, there was Dolph Lundgren. Though often forgotten these days – and rarely seen at the time, to be honest – 1989’s The Punisher was the first live-action outing for Frank Castle. The film itself wasn’t great, but Lundgren wasn’t a bad choice for the anti-hero. And now, those fans who’ve held onto the idea of the He-Man star as the Punisher all this time are about to be made very happy, as this photoshoot features the actor (sort of) returning as the character for the first time in 20 years.
Lundgren recently appeared on The Launchpad Podcast and to accompany the show, he donned a Punisher T-shirt in order to recreate a couple of classic comic book covers with the hosts. This is actually a pretty big deal, as it finally sees the actor wearing the iconic skull insignia, something that was bizarrely removed from Castle’s wardrobe in the 1989 movie.
Check out the photoshoot, as well as the original covers for comparison purposes, in the gallery below:
After 1989’s film, the Punisher next appeared on the big screen in 2004’s effort, which went by the same title, starring Thomas Jane. 2008’s Punisher: War Zone followed, with Ray Stevenson replacing Jane. Which of these is considered superior varies fan to fan, but the majority generally agree that the MCU’s version is the greatest of the four. Jon Bernthal debuted as Frank in 2016’s Daredevil season 2, with his own TV series coming the next year.
Tragically, the show was cancelled after two seasons earlier in 2019. Alongside his fellow Marvel-Netflix stars, it’s hoped that Bernthal will return in the franchise in some form. Thankfully, the odds are looking good that he could appear in a movie at some point. But after seeing this photoshoot, wouldn’t it be fun to have an Into the Punisher-verse flick in which all the previous Punishers come together to wipe out the multiverse’s criminals? Marvel, are you listening?