Frank Castle, Marvel Comic’s most brutal, uncompromising, and violent hero, will be making his way back to the big-screen with “Punisher: War Zone” this December. Star Ray Stevenson is already thinking about where he could go after that.
“I think Lions Gate and Marvel have always been very keen that if the fanbase take to it, then hopefully they’re looking for a franchise,” Stevenson said of the possibilities for “Punisher 2” or "3." “If there’s always villains, there’s always going to be Frank. Once he sets on this path, if you’re on his list, he’s gonna be a machine. There are so many stories already available to us.”
Stevenson himself, who admitted to being something of a comic-neophyte before his casting as Frank Castle, has some very specific ideas for what some of those stories could be. In particular, Stevenson copped to being a big fan of the Marvel Max imprint, where Castle existed in a continuum without appearances from costumed supers. Never read the series? Try this on for size: While Stevenson’s answers were about established works, they just as easily could have been in response to a hypothetical question: just how messed up a story can you come up with?
“There’s a series of stories called ‘Slave,’ about the white slave trade bringing over sort of mid-European women and putting them into prostitution and Frank gets involved in that,” Stevenson said of possible storylines he would like to see in a “Punisher 2.” “There’s another story in Afghanistan with an ex-Russian general - so you got a bit more history with Frank. There are so many places to go, which would even mean Frank getting out of NY and coming back.”
One place Castle won’t go, Stevenson thinks, is to join forces with another super, despite Marvel’s new vision of continuity cross-pollination. And not because it’s an issue of rights (though, of course, it is that as well) but because those other heroes are just too wimpy.
“It would be very interesting to see if he would mix. When he was first brought in he was of course blue spandex and the red bandana. He was brought in as an assassin to kill Spider-Man,” Stevenson said. “But it would really be determined with whether our world could mix with the world of the other characters. Are you going to bring them up to R or are you going to make them PG? It’s a difficult choice.”
Not for Stevenson and director Lexi Alexander, who have finally made the uber-violent, disgustingly bloody, R-Rated Punisher fans have been waiting for. We’ll have a lot more from Stevenson about “War Zone” on Sunday (so check back).
In the meantime, what do you think about Stevenson’s ideas for a “Punisher” sequel? Is there a such thing as being TOO dark? Could a comic book hero story be told about the slave trade, for instance? Or is there another “Punisher” villain you’d like to see instead? And, finally, would you like to see Castle in the integrated Marvel Universe? How could he fit in? Sound off on your thoughts below.
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