Thomas Jane Thinks the Perfect Punisher Movie Has Yet to Be Made

Following the release of Deadpool & Wolverine, Wesley Snipes is rightfully getting some late recognition for his work in the Y2K era Blade films, but there’s another early-2000s Marvel pioneer who deserves some praise as well. Thomas Jane, who portrayed the title character in 2004’s The Punisher, was part of the same generation of early Marvel films that showed there was a massive market for superhero properties. Along with Jane’s Punisher – X-Men (2000), Elektra (2005), and yes even Ben Affleck’s Daredevil (2003) walked so the juggernaut known as the MCU could run only a few years later. 

While promoting the global release of his Australian detective series, Troppo, Jane recently sat down with the Canadian constituent of Den of Geek to discuss the release of the show north of the border. Naturally, as the name of the website would suggest, the conversation tilted towards the world of comics. Jane has created a new horror comic book series called The Lycan through Renegade Entertainment, his co-owned production company that is also behind Troppo. The comic series is set to release early next year. 

Jane is no stranger to the comic book world, as he has often discussed how comics were his first love, and served as the introduction to art and storytelling in childhood that inspired him to get into filmmaking. When it came time for Jane to step into the paradigmatic shoes of the Punisher two decades ago, he was already a well-versed comic authority. He took that role as an opportunity to dive into one of Marvel’s greatest characters, and read Punisher stories extensively. 

Decades later, now playing Ted Conkaffey in Troppo, it hasn’t escaped Jane that he has a bit of a propensity to play damaged ex-lawmen. He even goes so far as to admit it might be “a bit of a cliche.”

“Wounded heroes are something I’m attracted to,” Jane says. “I’m always looking for that role, but that comes in many flavors. I like trying to explore, and put something on the screen that we can relate to.” It’s also very much a catharsis for the seemingly laidback Jane, and he recognizes the strange therapeutic nature of ultra-violent and traumatized characters. “You know, there’s a lot of pain in the world. It’s hard. It’s hard to wake up every day. So reflecting that in some way is a good thing.”

Of course, the major question is, would he return to once again don the iconic skull emblem, and was there an opportunity to do so recently with the cameo cavalcade within Deadpool & Wolverine, especially considering the character was brought up in the film? Jane chuckles, admits it would have been cool, but simply gives a monosyllabic response: “Nope.”

Jane does, however, go on to say that while the love for Frank still runs deep, and it would have been cool to get the call for a Deadpool cameo, the time to play him has likely passed. “I’ve kind of put that character to bed. I’m going on 56 [years old], so my dream would be to direct something close to the character of Frank Castle. I still have a soft spot for that guy.”

Jane certainly doesn’t need to explain how deep his love for The Punisher runs – it was proven in 2012 when he partnered up with Ron Perlman to create a short fan-film called Dirty Laundry, where he reprised the role. Until Marvel released The Punisher Netflix series, it could be considered the best on-screen adaptation of that character. 

Knowing that Jane and Jon Bernthal very recently trained together so that the latter could prepare for his return to the character in Daredevil: Born Again, it seems Jane can’t help but stay close to The Punisher. When prompted about the possibility of helming another project, much like his short film but on a monumental Marvel scale, Jane did not even hesitate to admit the appeal. 

“I’ve directed a couple episodes of Troppo and had a great time. Those are a couple of my favorite episodes from season two. I’ll be directing more, and I would love to do something in that vein. That character, that project, has yet to be nailed. We still don’t have the perfect Frank Castle film. I would absolutely love to get that off the ground, but finding the right story is going to be the challenge. Obviously it’s doable, [we] just haven’t seen it yet.”

Troppo season 1 and 2 are now streaming in the U.S. on Prime Video, and season one is being released weekly in Canada on Superchannel.