Nick Nadel's Tuesday column examines the increasingly busy intersection between comic books and the movies.

Does the Punisher deserve a third shot at big-screen stardom? That's the question haunting Marvel's upcoming Punisher: War Zone after the crimes perpetuated by the 1989 Dolph Lundgren campfest and the 2004 Thomas Jane starrer. As I discussed last week, Wonder Woman can't even get a debut film, but Frank Castle keeps getting to gun down an endless stream of bad guys. Will Punisher: War Zone be Frank Castle's third strike? Or should Punisher fans be cautiously optimistic?

The new outing has three things going for it: A grizzled lead who actually looks like the character (Rome's Ray Stevenson), an interesting helmer (Lexi Alexander, the female action director-martial arts champ who broke some heads with the rough and tumble Green Street Hooligans), and, most importantly, absolutely no connection whatsoever to the 2004 film. (Punisher should never have gone to Florida.) Still, despite the hard R rating, reaction to early footage is mixed. Why can't anyone make a decent Punisher film? He's a gun-toting vigilante, not Thor. It should be a no-brainer. That said, here's what Punisher War Zone will have to do to make me happy.

Continue reading "Will Punisher: War Zone Avenge the Crimes of Past Punisher Films?" »

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