The Punisher is starting to gain popularity thanks to his portrayal by Jon Bernthal in the Netflix-Marvel series, "Daredevil." However, prior to this renaissance Marvel did attempt to launch a film franchise and "Sons of Anarchy" creator Kurt Sutter reveals he worked on a script for "The Punisher 2" but it was ultimately rejected by Marvel.
Lionsgate and Marvel released the first movie in 2004 and it starred Thomas Jane in the titular role. A sequel was in the works for some years and this eventually became "Punisher: War Zone" in 2008 and it starred Ray Stevenson instead. Sutter revealed that he worked on a script that would have been "The Punisher 2," seeing Thomas Jane reprising his role.
"So I think that's what I was trying to do: humanize him a little bit more," he told Looper. "But it's the kind of thing where there's only X amount of time in the movies, so you have moments of that, but you can't really have a subplot that explores that kind of thing. Not in a summer blockbuster or Marvel picture."
He further explained that in his draft there would have been a woman whose life gets entangled with the Punisher. This woman would have been the handler of a murdered police officer, indicating the Punisher would be investigating the crime and this is how he meets the woman.
Sutter did state that while almost everything was changed when the film became "Punisher: War Zone," they did retain his version regarding the origins of the villain Jigsaw (). He also confirmed that he felt he did not deserve or even wanted to be credited for that film's script given how little he had contributed for the final product.
Despite this, he also stated that he was naive at the time regarding how films worked and the timeframes they followed. He then pointed out that with television shows, such as "Daredevil" on Netflix and his own "Sons of Anarchy," the kind of adaptation he wrote could be applied.
Although his "Punisher 2" did not see the light of day, he did move on to work on successful series such as the aforementioned "Sons of Anarchy" as well as "The Bastard Executioner" and "The Shield." He is also working on a spin-off series for "Sons of Anarchy," Screen Rant reported.
Jon Bernthal's version of the Punisher can be seen in "Daredevil" Season 2 which is available on Netflix. The official trailer can be viewed below: