New Punisher, Possibly Coming to a TV Near You

Frank Castle why can't you make a successful jump from the comic book page to the film? I never understood why it was so difficult to bring the Punisher to the silver screen. I mean honestly we're not dealing with tough special-effects or even really a difficult costume. It's just been a tough run of luck in regards to the execution. Blame it on the director, blame it on the script, even blame it on the actor in some cases. Well for now, the big screen is being traded in for the small screen for the Punisher. Marvel's ultimate anti-hero has an opportunity to get a series on Fox. Fox has attained the rights from ABC for a Punisher television series. At first I'm thinking, okay sure. If you are going to put a Punisher series on television Fox would be my channel of choice since they are willing to push beyond the typical extremes for network television. So everything is sounding promising until I read what the premise of the show going to be.

In this proposed series the Punisher will be a cop by day... who hunts criminals in vigilante mode while off-duty. WHA?? C'mon already the formula is being screwed around with. Frank Castle has to be a soldier, originally a Vietnam vet, but I can understand if they want to bring him out of a more recent military tour. And his family is gunned down by the mob, sparking off his one man war on crime. This war is the Punisher's life, he doesn't have time for a day job, even if is as a cop. It's a full on campaign against criminals with the Punisher. He's so over the edge, he shouldn't even be able to function as a cop. So already the origin is screwy and the set up for the show sounds wrong.

It's way early with this potential show, a pilot hasn't even started being filmed yet. So I'm hoping things will shift into a direction more true to the source material. Right now I'm not even bothering to make room for it on the TIVO.