Frank Castle aka The Punisher is one of Marvel's more 'adult' superheroes. With no super powers (in his original incarnation), the character is essentially an amalgamation of every action hero past, present and future - Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, Jason Statham, Liam Neeson; the Punisher would and could eat them all for breakfast. Driven to despair by the murder of his family Castle, an expert marksman, martial artist and strategic tactician has proven to be a force to be reckoned with in the 40 years since his first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129.
To date the Punisher has appeared on the big screen three times, each time portrayed by a different actor. He was first portrayed by Swedish action hero Dolph Lundgren in 1989, alongside Louis Gossett Jr. The movie, was released straight to video and did not feature the characters trademark skull motif (seen recently in Zero Dark Thirty). In 2004 the Punisher was portrayed by Thomas Jane, a self confessed Punisher fan, and the only actor to have played the part more than once (see Dirty Laundry above). Finally in 2008 Marvel Studios decided to reboot the character yet again with actor Ray Stevenson. The general consensus of fans is that Jane was the best actor for the role, which probaby led to Stevenson abandoning returning to the role, having since appeared twice as Volstagg, one of the Warriors Three in 2011's Thor and its 2013 sequel Thor: The Dark World.
Now comes official confirmation from Marvel that the Punisher will be visiting Hell's Kitchen and joining the cast of the successful Netflix TV serial Daredevil. Joining Charlie Cox and Jurassic World's Vincent D'Onofrio, will be former The Walking Dead and Fury star Jon Bernthal (pictured top) as Marvel's premier vigilante. Marvels head of Television Jeph Loeb had this to say about Bernthal's casting...
"Jon Bernthal brings an unmatched intensity to every role he takes on, with a potent blend of power, motivation and vulnerability that will connect with audiences. Castle’s appearance will bring dramatic changes to the world of Matt Murdock and nothing will be the same."
