8. Punisher - Spider-Man 2
With Spider-Mans appearance in The Avengers at any point in the near future painfully unlikely, its time to accept the biggest villain in superhero cinema are the lawyers and the contracts they wield. But the failed attempt to get the Oscorp tower into last years team up wasnt the first time Spider-Man had been involved in a crossover of the studio jumping kind. Everyone knows Dylan Baker was Dr. Curt Conners in the last two Raimi films, pre-empting the Spider-Man 4 that never happened, but the sneaker, contract breaking appearance went by completely unnoticed. In the final scene of Spider-Man 2 when Mary Jane runs through New York in a wedding dress she draws the attention of a guy in a black trench coat. Youd be forgiven for thinking his obvious turn is a scene stealing attempt from an extra, but the truth is much more exciting; its Punisher. And no, this isnt a crazy fan theory like my article last year on Deadshot in The Dark Knight Rises; the audio commentary reveals that is most certainly the serum-less super soldier who gives mob bosses nightmares. Produced about the same time as the 2004 adaptation of the character, the producers wanted Thomas Jane to make an appearance as Frank Castle, but due to Sony not having the rights his stunt double was used instead.
Alex Leadbeater
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Film Editor (2014-2016).
Loves The Usual Suspects. Hates Transformers 2. Everything else lies somewhere in the middle.
Once met the Chuckle Brothers.
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Alex