After playing Marvel Comics vigilante Frank Castle, a.k.a. The Punisher, in the 2004 version of The Punisher (watch it HERE), Thomas Jane was supposed to reprise the role in a sequel. That didn't happen and the project morphed into the separate adaptation Punisher: War Zone (watch that one HERE), starring Ray Stevenson as The Punisher, but Jane did "unoffically" play the character again in a 2012 online short called Dirty Laundry. Since then, Jon Bernthal took over the role in a Netflix series that was cancelled after two seasons. But if Jane had his way, Bernthal would be playing The Punisher again in a film with Jane at the helm.
Jane directed this week's episode of the TV series The Expanse, and when ComicBook.com asked him if he would be interested in playing The Punisher again, his initial response was:
That would be a fan thing. If the fans really wanted me back, and we could find a script. See, I think the Punisher, and the reason why I did (Dirty Laundry), was that it hasn't fully been cracked in a way that fully honors the character, Frank Castle, in a film. And I love what Bernthal did on Netflix. I think he's such a great Punisher. In fact, I would love to direct a Punisher starring Bernthal, because he's such a great actor."
Jane also directed the 2009 film Dark Country, which you can see HERE.
Digging deeper into the idea of playing Frank Castle again himself, Jane said,
Now, if the fans wanted me to come back and play Frank, and the script was something, and when we found a director and a script where we really felt that we could put a stamp on this character, there is so much to that Frank Castle and the Punisher, and his world. We couldn't make a dark film when we did Punisher in 2004. We couldn't go as dark because people just hadn't trusted, on the production side, that fans would be into that. But, now we've got shows like The Boys and, of course, The Dark Knight came out after The Punisher, where I think that producers and studios are now aware that there's a real audience for the darkness, the Taxi Driver-esque quality that you could pull out of a Frank Castle, and that hasn't been done. And I would love to do that. But again, we have to take it to a place where, frankly, The Punisher has always wanted to go."
February 2021 will bring the two year anniversary of when Netflix cancelled The Punisher, and the Netflix contract stated that Marvel would be able to use the character again two years after the cancellation. It remains to be seen what Marvel will do with The Punisher, or if Jane or Bernthal will ever play the character again. If the rumor of Netflix's Daredevil Charlie Cox appearing in the next Spider-Man movie pans out, that could be taken as a good sign for Bernthal's chances… But we'll have to wait and see.
Bernthal holding on to the role of The Punisher seems much more likely than Jane getting another chance – and if Bernthal does get to play the character again, it would be very cool if it was in something directed by Jane.