Reaction to Bernthal casting vs Reaction to Stevenson casting

"Many now have problem's imagining anyone other than Tom Jane as the Punisher today"

The only people that imagine that are Jane/Punisher 2004 fans who were never actually fans of the character or The Punisher comic books at all to begin with. I'm glad Marvel did not listen to them and picked someone like Bernthal who can actually act and come across as menacing. Not only that but Bernthal actually looks like The Punisher from the old Punisher War Zone comic books from back in the days. So Marvel knows what it is doing.


"Do you remember your reaction to Stevenson when he was first cast, or Jane before him? How does it compare to your reaction of learning Bernthal was cast?"

I remember it like it was yesterday. Everyone was whining like bitches saying that they wanted Jane to come back and that Punisher War Zone would be better with him in it which is laughable. Not even Jane would have been able to save this trainwreck of a movie, even he knew that and ran away from it. The thing I find funny is that people did not like Jane either when he was picked for the role back in 2004. I remember people making fun of Jane badly when they saw this picture of him in the link below. People would say that he was nothing more then a pretty boy posing as The Punisher in his mom's basement. Trust me when I say this people have said a lot more harsher things toward Jane when he was picked for the role back in 2004. I still remember it and how people in my school would make fun of the movie. People would say it was just as bad as Affleck Daredevil movie which came out a year before Jane's Punisher movie was released. Like Affleck's Daredevil movie, Jane Punisher badly flopped and was hated. People went as far as rating it as one of the many worse comic book movies ever made. Several websites have done the same thing. So far all of three Punisher movies have failed and have been rated as such by critics and others out there. But now all of the sudden people like him and his Punisher movie? Too funny despite the fact most people did not even bother to see his movie until came out on DVD where it made the most money from what I remember and understand.

The infamous Jane Punisher picture where people torn him a new one.
http://horrornews.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/The-Punisher-2004-movie-1.jpg

For me Jane never looked like the Punisher at all. He got the spirit of the character down but he looked nothing like him on the big screen and fails to come across as menacing. But I will say he did an amazing job playing as The Punisher in the 2005 Punisher game he did a great job with the voice acting. Stevenson could have been a great pick if Punisher War zone was taken more seriously and if he had more time to get in shape. Stevenson to me looked like he was not even in shape for the role and looked fat at times. He did not even have the muscular physique of The Punisher at all. That right there tells me that the suits in charge did not even take this movie seriously at all among other things. So far the reaction towards Bernthal has been a lot more positive then mixed or negative when Jane and Stevenson were picked to play as The Punisher. Bernthal being picked for the role has been well received by not only fans but even critics and mainstream audiences that are willing to give The Punisher a forth chance. So Marvel did something right. Bernthal was not my original pick to play The Punisher as Gerard Butler was. But Bernthal is a talented actor so I am pleased with him playing as The Punisher. It was great casting on Marvel's part and I have faith he will pull it off. So far everyone else thinks the same so that is a plus. I'm sure Bernthal will do great job also an being able to carry a future Netflix Punisher series as well.

I am just grateful that Marvel doesn't totally give up on The Punisher altogether. In my opinion (and that's all this really is) he is one of the top five characters Marvel has. Bernthal is a nice casting and I think people are more forgiving now on casting decisions because of all of the success Marvel has had on various platforms. I remember hearing when Charlie Cox was cast as Daredevil I wasn't throwing a fit or upset but I wasn't jumping for joy either and now I think Charlie Cox is pretty perfect as Matt Murdock. When Stevenson was cast I had seen Rome and I was like whoa, this could be pretty awesome. The only thing I didn't take into consideration was the fact that actors can't turn a turd into filet mignon. Stevenson was pretty good as it was even with the terrible dialogue and a plot that was riddled with cannon ball sized holes.

That being said, Bernthal will probably turn out to be the best representation of The Punisher yet in all likelihood. I just can't help the notion that if a studio can for the most part figure out Deadpool and make it rated R why can't the Punisher get the benefit of the the doubt with his own rated R movie instead of just a show? I hope Deadpool has shifted the paradigm and let's studios know that almost direct translations from the comic books are a pretty safe bet because ultimately those are the stories we loved anyway. Sorry for the extra stuff but I seriously would love to see the Punisher taken seriously and not adjusted to solely fit a budget and to appease children.

I hated the 2004 movie it wasn't the Punisher for me, When Ray was cast I was extremely thrilled. Even though War Zone wasn't perfect it felt like a Punisher movie to me. Ps I am glad the Punisher has a TV series, my fan girl wish has finally come true.