We covered the Marvel panels rather thoroughly here, but there was one more surprise on the way, as booed Marvel Chief Kevin Feige claimed that the toxic “Punisher” brand name, which has survived three underperforming films is now back in Marvel hands, and the gun-toting vigilante will make a re-appearance in the onscreen Marvel universe (the character was played by Dolph Lundgren, Thomas Jane and Ray Stevenson, in the previous three iterations).
Could he pop up in “The Avengers”? Or are they planning yet another solo voyage for the character no one seems to love? As one of the seven people who saw “Punisher War Zone,” we do hope they keep Ray Stevenson aboard, but we assume Marvel will lowball someone entirely new.
Would they bother doing yet another reboot film? They could, but as this astute Deadline observer writes, what’s really the point? “The problem with making a movie about The Punisher is that the story is the same as every violent, grade Z vigilante/revenge movie every made. The character surged to popularity in the late ’80s and died out after a couple of years. I don’t see why we have to keep bringing him back to the big screen.” Amen.