Earlier this month, Marvel Comics anti-hero the Punisher made his way back to theaters for the third time in “Punisher: War Zone,” an ultraviolent film focused on the one-man death squad Frank Castle and his nemesis, Jigsaw. With a new “Punisher” comic book series set to launch in January, Splash Page talked with former “Punisher: War Journal” writer Rick Remender about what makes the man behind the mayhem tick, and why readers will be ready for his relaunch.
“I think the great thing about Frank Castle is his purity and simplicity of concept. Gangsters murdered his family; and he went nuts and began hunting criminals. He’s Batman -- with one very fun difference -- Frank Castle will kill you,” laughed Remender. “That said, I think the uninitiated fan of the film or any new reader can get onboard fairly quickly… He’s a cold-hearted killer and you aren’t sure if you’re supposed to like him or root for him some of the time, but that reptilian part of our brains is a big fan of bloody revenge and capital punishment.”
(After the jump, read more of Remender's thoughts on Punisher and check out a 5-page preview of "Punisher" #1.)
Remender’s new “Punisher” series with artist Jerome Opeña follows Frank out of the events of the recent Marvel crossover "Secret Invasion" and back into the business of killing bad guys.
“He’s privy to some very delicate information and -- in famous Punisher fashion -- he’s going to handle it rather indelicately,” said Remender. “Frank’s going to target a new criminal enterprise born in the ashes of Secret Invasion. It’s a larger scale enemy so Frank will need a powerful weapons cache to take down the soldiers guarding the guy in charge.”
So who is this mysterious guy in charge? Remender said that all will be revealed soon enough, but hints that “suffice to say, it’s a familiar face.”
And while Punisher’s biggest threat on the big screen in “Punisher: War Zone” may be Jigsaw, Remender promised that “we’ve got some many amazing things planned for Frank Castle in the next year -- and Jigsaw will be the least of Frank’s worries.”
Despite being a regular human with no special powers save artillery and rage, Frank Castle will also be taking aim at targets higher up the Marvel Universe food chain than usual in the new “Punisher,” including A-level superhero heavyweight The Sentry, who ends up in the Frank’s crosshairs in the very first issue.
According to Remender, the Punisher’s decision to up the ante comes from his commitment to serving his brand of justice to all criminals, no matter how dangerous or powerful.
“He’s drowned the part of himself that even considers soft resolutions -- it just never occurs to him," said Remender. "He’s unrelenting in his mission and we’re going to give him the tools to expand the size of his targets, to do more damage to the criminal underworld and those who would do harm to innocents.”
So how is a mere mortal going to keep pace with the big boys? Remender said the Punisher will get the leg up he needs from a new friend in the first arc “who will unlock doors that hold the tools to elevate Frank to a new weight class. After all of these years cleaning the streets, Frank has just lucked into the biggest advantage of his career, and God help the villains and criminals of New York City. This is the Marvel Universe Frank Castle and he needs to be equipped to deal with Marvel Universe level threats-- and he will be.”
Now that you've read all about the start of Rick Remender's run on "Punisher," here's a 5-page preview of un-lettered pages from "Punisher" #1, as well as the two covers for the debut issue of "Punisher," courtesy of Marvel Comics.
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Like what you've read about the new "Punisher" series and Rick Remender's take on the character? Let us know in the comment section!
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