The only question I had after hearing this news was; when's the Alpha Flight movie coming out? I mean, Marvel's already dredging up titles like Ghost Rider and Iron Fist in order to keep the cash cow going, and now even the lackluster movies are getting sequels:
An AICN source attended the Dallas Comic Con Convention over the weekend where actor Thomas Jane was at a panel and was asked about the "Punisher" sequel rumours:
"Thomas' response was... "Oh, is that still just a rumor?" We all perked up, Niles asked Jane if he could talk about this, and Thomas said "Why Not." Jane let the cat out of the bag and told the room that yesterday at a studio in north Dallas filmed the teaser for "Punisher 2". No word on when or where we will see this trailer though.
Jane said that while the script is not finished, he is working closely with the team. He said that he is doing EVERYTHING he can do to get the setting moved to the borroughs of New York and that Jigsaw is "more than likely" going to be the villian in the movie.
I'm still dreading the official notification that Daredevil 2 has been greenlit.
Like any parent, I wasn't angry at the first Thomas Jane Punisher movie (Dolph Lundgren's 1989 effort defies categorization) so much as I was disappointed. Updating his origin from Vietnam to the Gulf War was a necessary step (nothing about the Punisher's early years demanded the story be set in the 1970s or '80s), but trying to humanize Frank Castle - one of the least sympathetic characters in Marvel Comics history - was a mistake (watch for Warner Brothers to make a Guy Gardner movie next). So was the casting of John Travolta and the pointless romantic angle with Rebecca Romijn's character.
Even so, the film's final act featured the kind of exuberant violence and unapologetic body trauma we've come to expect from Castle. It wasn't enough to redeem the action movie cliches that had filled the previous hour and fifteen minutes, but it made me look forward to a sequel. Sort of. The character of the Punisher really only works in the context of black comedy, because let's face it; as character depth goes, Frank Castle's about as compelling as Michael Myers.
So we'll see how this one turns out. I'd probably go see it even if I wasn't being forced to, and throw in a cameo from Tobey Maguire so they can reproduce the "Spider-Man as human shield" gag from Punisher #36, and I'll be happy as a clam.
Pete,
For the next Simpsons Halloween opener, you can put this epitaph on one of the grave stones: Hollywood Creativity.
I could barely sit through the most recent Punisher. It'll be a cold day in Hell before the franchise gets another dime out of me.
I think the mistake is in thinking that 'Punisher' here refers to the film franchise. Oh no.
It is you, the film-watching public, who are being punished. Your penance for giving a wet damn about Hollywood is to pay $9 to sit through this crapfiesta, incur untold damage to your psyche, and sacrifice 1.5 precious hours of your mortal lifespan on the altar of the Almighty Blockbuster.
Next up, the Spike Lee joint: "Pay Up, Suckaz".
Woman... woe-man... whoooa-man.
She was a thief, you got to believe,
she stole my heart and my cat.
Judy, Betty, Josie and those hot Pussycats... they made me horny, on Saturday morning...
girls of cartoo-ins will leave me in ruins...
I want to to be Betty's Barney.
Jane... get me off this crazy thing...
called love.
I kept muttering at the screen, "He's a freaking pyschopath, not a tortured drunk!"
You're right, the finale was fun.