10 Actors Who Were Cruelly Shafted By Franchise Reboots

5. Thomas Jane - The Punisher

Unlike most superheroes, the Punisher doesn€™t have to worry about appealing to kids. Given that his M.O. is brutally murdering criminals, there€™s not much to work with from the merchandising angle. Because of this, the 2004 Punisher film was allowed to be as gory and violent as it wanted to be. Thomas Jane played Frank Castle as he sought revenge against crime boss Howard Saint for killing his family. Taking down Saint and his whole operation by the end of the film, he decides to continue his mission of delivering €œpunishment€ against €œthose who do evil to others.€ While many fans liked Jane€™s performance, the film itself earned mostly negative reviews. A Punisher 2 was planned, but after creative differences and the studio not wanting to spend too much money on the project, Jane eventually left after reading the latest script. After Jane left, the next Punisher film was a reboot titled Punisher: War Zone starring Ray Stevenson in the titular role. It was just as bad, if not worse, than the first one. Admittedly, Jane is different from the other actors on this list because he chose to leave. However, if Lions Gate Entertainment had been willing to put more effort into the project, as well as secured a good director, we may have seen more of a cohesive Punisher film series. Not to worry, though. Jane recently reprised the Castle role in the 2012 fan film The Punisher: Dirty Laundry, so check it out if you€™ve wanting more of Jane as the skull-shirt wearing killer.