Thomas Jane Would Love to Direct a Punisher Film Starring Jon Bernthal

Thomas Jane is a big fan of Jon Bernthal’s work on The Punisher, and would love to direct a film starring Bernthal in the role. Jane, who famously played the character in the 2004 film, spoke with ComicBook.com and was asked if he’d be interested in directing a film featuring the character.

“That would be a fan thing,” he said. “If the fans really wanted me back, and we could find a script. See, I think the Punisher, and the reason why I did the short, 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.”

He also discussed how he would want the film to get really gritty and dark, saying, “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.”

Bernthal played Frank Castle in the Netflix TV show, which ran two seasons before being canceled in February of 2019. Netflix will reportedly get the rights to the character back in February of 2021.