Marvel's worst box office hero of all time will return to the MCU in 2025

The Punisher has proven himself to be one of the most complex characters in comics, but his box office returns haven't been particularly impressive, as evidenced by Marvel's low earnings Films like Punisher: Warzone. On the trail of the 1989s The punisher with Dolph Lundgren and 2004 Punisher In this film, the late Ray Stevenson played former Marine and vigilante Frank Castle, a reboot starring Thomas Jane. In the action thriller directed by Lexi Alexander, the title character faces off against Dominic West's villain Jigsaw, a crime boss who is behind the death of Castle's family and who vows revenge on Castle for the disfigurement of his face.

Punisher: Warzone continued the R-rated trend of Punisher's blood-soaked cycle of gruesome violence and late-night action. But unlike the previous Punisher films Punisher: Warzone failed to break even at the box office. A few years later, Jon Bernthal reinvented the character in the streaming space, reaching a more widely recognized level in the then-Netflix original Daredevil and its spin-off series The punisher. Now with Daredevil: Reborn Marking the return of characters from Netflix's Marvel series, Bernthal's version of Frank Castle returns to the MCU timeline. And hopefully the overlooked Punisher flop from 2008 can be made up for in the process.

Punisher: War Zone is the lowest-grossing Marvel film of all time

The R-rated action thriller from 2008 still has a cult following

The critical and commercial record of the Marvel films prior to the MCU was very uneven, but even some of the most poorly received films managed to do good business. For example, the 2003 Razzie winner Daredevil earned more than double its budget. Likewise in 2004 The punisher Although the film was released to negative reviews, it grossed $54.7 million on a budget of $33 million. However, Punisher: Warzone On a budget of $35 million, it only grossed $10.1 million worldwide, making it the lowest-grossing Marvel film of all time. The The film performed worse than Marvel flops The New Mutants And Electra.

That makes it all the more tragic Punisher: Warzone is narratively better than the recent Marvel box office bombs Madam Web And Morbius. For starters, Ray Stevenson's down-to-earth and gritty portrayal of Frank Castle did the ghostly vigilante justice. Lexi Alexander's direction also helped give this stylish, hyper-violent action film a limited but loyal fan base. Comedian Patton Oswalt is one of those admirers, even hosting a special screening in Los Angeles in 2011. Criticism of elements such as the extremely graphic violence and the thinly written characters ultimately contributed to this Punisher: Warzone be forgotten.

How Punisher can save War Zone in the MCU

The legacy of Ray Stevenson's Forgotten Punisher can live on

With the growing prominence of Netflix's Marvel villains like Wilson “Kingpin” Fisk, the MCU needs the Punisher now more than ever. Jon Bernthal's return as a character in Daredevil: Reborn also ensures a good service for fans, as both comic fans and critics have previously praised it overwhelmingly. But the future of Bernthal's Punisher once remained uncertain, as the Netflix Punisher series was abruptly canceled after two seasons in 2019. The cancellation will certainly remind fans of all the unsuccessful attempts to launch a Punisher film series. A hidden gem in this context Punisher: Warzone deserves re-observation and re-analysis.

Instead of playing out like a simple origin story, Punisher: Warzone takes place at a time when Frank Castle was already working as a vigilante while occasionally showing vignettes from his past. As many Punisher comics from veteran writers like Garth Ennis show, The Punisher is a character with a lot of pent-up trauma that he tries to hide with an ice-cold exterior. This side of Castle's personality was explored by Stevenson in “ Punisher: Warzone. With Bernthal's equally painful Punisher returning to the MCU, Stevenson's 2008 flop can live on.

Punisher: Warzone

director

Lexi Alexander

Release date

December 5, 2008

writer

Nick Santora, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway

Pour

Ray Stevenson, Dominic West, Julie Benz, Colin Salmon, Doug Hutchison, Dash Mihok, Wayne Knight

Sources: Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, How Did This Get Made