The Punisher will return, but not on the big screen

He’s already had three shots in movies, but now Marvel’s brutal vigilante THE PUNISHER is taking the action to the small screen.

Fox and ABC Studios has a new show in the works from Ed Bernero (“Criminal Minds”)… but don’t expect to see the ruthless behavior that the character is known for. Deadline says that the TV version of Frank Castle will be “a rising star detective with the New York Police Department who moonlights as the vigilante Punisher, seeking justice for those the system has failed.”

Seems pretty… generic. Like a remake of the cheesy 90s show “Dark Justice” (yeah, that was a judge instead of a cop, but the same basic premise). At the very least it doesn’t sound like we’ll see the vengeance-obsessed Castle gunning down every hardened felon in sight.

You may recall that after the anti-hero’s last big screen attempt PUNISHER: WAR ZONE (which at least had the courtesy to remain reasonably true to the comic origin), the rights to the character were reacquired by Marvel. The movie studio’s honcho Kevin Feige later dropped hints we’d see the skull costume and smoking guns again. We just presumed he didn’t mean in a potentially toothless network TV show.