Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Creative Casting: The Punisher


Everyone loves a good casting choice, but sometimes you can't help but envision your own choice for a character. That is where the fun in fan casting resides, but not everyone may feels the same way about who should play a character. You may not agree but many have their own pick on who should play the character in question. With the MP community constantly growing, I thought it would be good time to start Creative Casting. The purpose of this series is to look at a particular character and allow various creators give their own choices on who should play the topic character. So without further ado: lets get into this first edition of Creative Casting.

We start with an iconic Marvel character. There have been many characters in the Marvel Universe to be titled as a vigilante, but no one emphasizes that title better then Frank Castle,aka The Punisher. Once a decorated Marine, Frank's life changed after his family was gunned down by the mob. After his tragic loss, Castle dedicated his life to punish all criminals in the hopes of avenging his family. The Punisher has been seen in many mediums and actors such as Thomas Jane and Ray Stevenson have taken up the role of this anti-hero. It has been a while since anyone has played the character; but with Marvel Studios growing in all forms of media, perhaps we will see Punisher fighting crime once again. So if the Punisher were to make an MCU debut, who should play him?Here are some casting choices by the creators of MP.




Mads Mikkelson by Samuel James Harris
Although I haven't seen Mikkelsen's entire body of work, its safe to say from his superb performance in Casino Royale (and his lead role in Hannibal) that the actor is capable of the dark, troubled characteristics needed to portray Punisher. His accent is, of course, an obstacle, but one that would be worth trying to solve in order to get this actor as our Punisher.


Jason Stathem by Adonis Gonzalez
He's a huge action star right now with a knack for revenge movies. Examples are The Expendables, Crank, The Mechanic and Homefront. He's the type of guy who you believe would go on a rampage to avenge or protect the ones he loves. He's not as bulky as the Punisher usually is, but that can obviously be fixed with training.

Thomas Jane by Luis Rodriguez 
If there's one man that could play Frank Castle i believe that man is in fact Thomas Jane. I know it might feel like a cop out since hes been the Punisher already.The man is a tremendous actor though and also has that look that i want The Punisher to have. If you're still not convinced with Thomas Jane as The Punisher go watch the short film Dirty Laundry on YouTube. He deserves another go at the character just for that. I would love to see him and Charlie Cox crossing over on a Netflix special, one can only dream.


Jon Bernthal by Tim Dunn
Casting the Punisher is no easy thing; but when I thought about a choice to play the character, the only person that came to mind was Jon Bernthal. I have been a fan of Bernthal since The Walking Dead, and he has continued to impress in film such as Snitch and Fury. Bernthal has proven that he can play tough as nails characters with his roles as Shane and Grady Travis. While playing a hard ass is one thing; you need to come off as cold hearted and damaged character if you want to portray Frank Castle properly. I believe that Bernthal could pull off these traits as he shown his dramatic side in both The Walking Dead and in Snitch. With all of these qualities, I think Jon Bernthal would bring the right blend to pull off this classic vigilante; especially if the Punisher is heading to Netflix.

As you can tell, there are many actors who could pull the role of The Punisher. Yet whoever may take the role of Frank Castle, we can only hope that we will see The Punisher sooner rather then later.

Who would you like to play the Punisher? Give your choice in the comments below.

Check everyone's work on Moviepilot.com.


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