Todd Phillips’ Joker not only received two Academy Awards, but also passed the $1 billion mark at the box office. Those are numbers that DC’s rival Marvel can get behind and now it seems they’re reportedly taking pitches for a Punisher movie and are hoping to have it achieve similar results.
It’s been over a year now since Netflix canceled the much-beloved series revolving around the one and only Frank Castle and ever since that dark day, fans everywhere have wondered when the antihero would be back in action. There’ve been a lot of rumors and reports going around about the property in recent months and star Jon Bernthal has said that he’d be interested in returning to the role if the project was up to his standards. And now, with the recent success of Joker, it seems that Marvel has its eyes set on a new target for the Punisher.
While appearances on the small screen are still on the cards, apparently, the studio is also putting together a Punisher movie, with the intention being to make it dark and gritty like the aforementioned DC flick starring Joaquin Phoenix. And according to sources close to WGTC – the same ones who told us an Aladdin sequel was in development back in the summer, and that a new Scream movie is in the works, both of which turned out to be true – Kevin Feige and co. are currently taking pitches for the project. We’ve also been told that they’re looking for directors to helm the ambitious endeavor who have experience handling dark material.
Of course, Joker hit on a lot of critical issues, which is one of the things that made it resonate so well with audiences. And Castle’s background with war, the military and gun violence matched up with the right director and story could very well have the same outcome. There’s no word yet on how dark and gritty Marvel will get with the project and how far they’ll push things, but they are now taking pitches and if indeed they’re looking to replicate the success of the critically acclaimed DC film, the Punisher is certainly an excellent choice with which to complete that bold objective.
