9 Superheroes Who Have Been Played By Three Or More Actors (And Who Did It Best)
4. The Punisher
Played By: Jon Bernthal, Ray Stevenson, Thomas Jane, Dolph Lundgren
Frank Castle, Marvel's most infamous anti-hero, made his film debut back in 1989's The Punisher, in which he was portrayed by perennial action hero Dolph Lundgren. His performance wasn't exactly riveting, but for an over-the-top '80s action flick, it was fine. And he captured the character's core beliefs well enough.
Castle would get a modern cinematic makeover in 2004, when he was portrayed by Thomas Jane. Despite some studio interference, Jane made sure to familiarize himself with the source material and turned in a solid performance as the murderous vigilante that helped make the film an overall enjoyable (and underrated) one. He truly cared a lot about the character, which you can definitely see when he's on screen. However, while Jane's first performance as the Punisher was good, his second one in the 2012 short film Dirty Laundry was great.
Between Jane's two outings as the Punisher, the character got the reboot treatment again in 2008's Punisher: War Zone, another very underrated Marvel film. This time around, he was played by Ray Stevenson, who underwent a similar "studying" process as Jane.
Finally, Jon Bernthal brought the Punisher to Netflix in 2016. Bernthal took a page out of Jane and Stevenson's book, immersing himself in the character's history (including all the aforementioned films) to prepare for the role. This, combined with the raw emotion he brings to the screen, resulted in him utterly stealing the show in season two of Daredevil. So much so, in fact, that he would later get his very own series.
Who Did It Best: The character of Frank Castle has more or less been done justice by every actor that's played him, but thanks to his passion and sheer on-screen rage, Jon Bernthal is undeniably the one who nailed it the best. However, the three other Punishers (Jane especially) definitely deserve credit for helping to inspire his top-notch performance.