The Punisher
Genre: Action/ Superhero
Director: S. Craig Zahler
Writer: Dwight Gallo
Based on Marvel Comics characters
Cast: Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, Shea Whigham, Tory Kittles, Dwight Yoakam, Jennifer Carpenter, Jeremy Jordan, Vincent Kartheiser, Tony Cavalero, Fred Melamed, Mira Sorvino, Ron Perlman
Plot: A television turns on and the host of The Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson (Ron Perlman), is yelling at his audience as usual. This time he is yelling after a call asking Jameson's opinion on "The Punisher". Jameson looks directly at the camera and says that the so-called vigilante The Punisher never existed. It was all an urban legend, a conspiracy most likely created by the NYPD and their inept leadership to help cover-up the constant mob warfare of the 1990s. Jameson ends the segment by telling his off-camera producer to block that caller from ever phoning in with such ridiculous questions. [1]
[1] Originally this film was going to be completely separate from the other Marvel films being developed by other LRF writers, so this opening scene ended up being a bit of a late addition. I was a bit worried about this film’s hard R-rating in how it would relate to those other projects, including my own X-Men series. I don’t think it is really possible to do anything less than R and have the character be even remotely faithful to his origins. Once it was decided that this and all Marvel films would exist in the same universe in some way, shape or form, a JJ Jameson cold open felt like a natural way to give a little bit of backstory on my version of the Punisher.
Frank Castle (Mel Gibson) sits in a spartan shack in the middle of a dense forest with a bottle of whiskey in hand. [2] He takes a gulp, and an apparition of his late wife Maria (Mira Sorvino) appears before him. He asks her what she wants, and she tells him that she wants him to finish the job that he started all those years ago of ridding New York City of organized crime. Castle says that he killed those responsible for her death and the death of their daughter. She tells him that as long as the mob exists in the city, there will be more families that meet the same fate as theirs. Frank asks her what she expects him to do about it, and she tells him to do what comes naturally to him. Frank throws the whiskey bottle at the wall and Maria disappears. [3]
[2] I cannot describe how happy I am that Mel was able to play this role in LRF. He brings an intensity and world-weariness that suit the role perfectly. Plus, with his ample charisma it makes it easier to root for him even when he’s being unnecessarily brutal toward his enemies.
[3] Given Gibson’s age, a traditional origin story for this Punisher didn’t seem like a very good idea, but I still wanted his murdered family to be a presence in the film somehow. Also, given his lone wolf lifestyle I needed someone for him to talk to. During the writing process I thought a lot about what a realistic mental state would be for a man who spent years killing criminals after his family was murdered and then vanished to live in isolation. I felt like someone with that level of trauma could very easily hallucinate people from his past in some sort of attempt at coping.
Frank Castle walks out into the forest and digs up a tin can full of cash. He pockets the cash and then begins hiking through the woods until he reaches a road. Frank walks along the road for miles and miles until he sees a sign for New York City. Frank lets out a deep sigh and continues walking toward the skyline of the metropolis. After years in the wilderness, the noise and hustle and bustle of the city serve as a bit of sensory overload for Castle.
Isabella "Ma" Gnucci (Jodie Foster) calls her three sons to see her in the family's mansion on Staten Island. The suave youngest son Bobby (Jeremy Jordan), the hotheaded middle son Eddie (Tony Cavalero) and the tepid oldest son Carlo (Vincent Kartheiser) all enter their mother's office. She wants to know how business is doing. Carlo stumbles over his words. Bobby and Eddie tell their older brother Carlo to shut up and proceed to dump out a duffel bag full of cash on the floor. Bobby winks at his mother and assures her that business is booming so she needn't worry about a thing. Isabella confesses that she was initially hesitant to put them in charge of the family's enterprises, but is pleased that they are proving her wrong. She tells them to make their father proud and leave her be. Each Gnucci brother gives their mother a kiss on the cheek before leaving the room. [4]
[4] Garth Ennis’ ‘Welcome Back, Frank’ run of Punisher comics was definitely an influence on my vision for the character, which made Ma Gnucci and her fuck-up sons a natural choice for Frank to go up against. Once we had Mel committed to the title role, it seemed like it could be a good choice to cast his good friend Jodie Foster against type as the ruthless mafia queenpin.
Frank arrives at a rundown-looking apartment building and knocks on the door of one of the units. Linus (Dwight Yoakam) opens the door, surprised to see Frank is still alive after all these years. He asks Frank what he can do for him, and Frank simply hands Linus all of his cash. Linus smiles and leads Frank to a backroom where he keeps his latest weaponry. Frank selects several guns and explosive devices from Linus' wares. Linus asks Frank what brings him back after two decades, and Frank simply says that the war isn't over. Linus gives Frank a salute, and Frank walks out of the building with a large canvas duffle bag full of weapons. [5]
[5] I would be remiss if I didn’t take a chance to talk about director S. Craig Zahler. He was chosen for the film around the same time it became clear that Mel would be up for playing the title role. They previously worked together on the wonderful, under-seen Dragged Across Concrete. Zahler’s involvement had a big impact on the film, not just in terms of casting (Gibson, Carpenter, Kittles, Melamed and vision, but also the soundtrack to the film which is littered with 60s and 70s soul and R & B songs. It’s a style of music I’ve always enjoyed, but Zahler has proven with his past work that you can pretty perfectly blend that music with a modern crime story. It also felt like a good fit for Frank, as he’s a man haunted and trapped by the past.
Eddie is smacking around a prostitute in an alley way to get her to pay up her protection fees. She claims to not have all of the money he wants, so he tells her that she's going to have to pay up another way. He throws her down onto a pile of garbage and pulls down his pants. Just as Eddie is about to climb on top of the helpless prostitute, he is blasted in the face by a shotgun blast that nearly takes his head off his shoulders. The prostitute is covered in Eddie's blood and chunk of skull and brain. Frank emerges from the shadows and tells the woman to go clean herself up and find a new line of work. The prostitute runs out of the alley, screaming for someone to call the police. Frank quietly leaves the scene down a manhole cover. He walks through the sewer system until he reaches a small hideaway containing a bedroll, several bottles of whiskey and his arsenal of weaponry.
Word quickly spreads through the media about the death of Eddie Gnucci. When Isabella hears about the death of her second son she becomes enraged. She demands that Bobby and Carlo find out how exactly Eddie was killed and who did it. She wants the responsible party to be treated to the exact same fate they gave her son.
At the NYPD 122nd Precinct, Captain Ennis (Fred Melamed) informs the crew of detectives about the death of Eddie Gnucci. Detective Martin Soap (Shea Whigham) suggests that based on the evidence found at the sce ne and the witness statement from the prostitute that it could be that The Punisher has returned. [6] The other detectives begin howling with laughter and making fun of Soap. Captain Ennis orders everyone to quiet down. He then tells Soap that if he is so convinced that an urban legend is responsible, he can go find an empty office in the basement and conduct his investigation down there while the rest of the detectives try to track down suspects that are actual living human beings. Soap grabs his papers and heads down the stairs to the basement. Once he finds an empty office, he creates a makeshift sign out of a piece of notebook paper reading PUNISHER TASK FORCE and tapes it to the door.
[6] We almost went with a more comedic actor for the role of Soap to fit the sad-sack nature of the character in the comics. Will Arnett, in particular, was heavily considered for the role. As the character grew and developed throughout the writing process though, I realized that casting an actor so identified with comedic roles could be distracting. That’s when I started looking at dramatic character actors that can handle humor. With that criteria, Whigham is someone who quickly shot up toward the top of the possibilities for the role.
Carlo and Bobby bribe a morgue worker to let them in to see the body of Eddie to see exactly what kind of damage was inflicted on him. When they see his face, or lack thereof, Carlo can't help but throw up. Bobby tells his older brother to get it together and grow a pair. They return home to inform their mother that Eddie's head was nearly blown completely off, probably by a shotgun blast. She tells her sons that is what they need to make their brother's murderer's head look like as well. Once her surviving sons have left, Isabella calls up Captain Ennis and asks what the detectives have figured out so far. He says that the witness described the killer as being in his 50s or 60s, Caucasian, with dark hair and dark clothes. She chastises him for how unhelpful the description is. Ennis asks Isabella how much longer he has to keep feeding her information from the department. She tells him that he can be done when his gambling debts are all paid up, which if he continues to bet on the Mets, is probably never going to be paid up.
Castle looks at a newspaper headline detailing Eddie Gnucci's death down in his sewer hideout. He sticks the front page to the wall and takes a drink of whiskey. Maria appears before him once again. Frank tries to drink until she goes away, but the apparition doesn't budge. Finally Maria tells Frank that "Ma" Gnucci has two more sons that need to be taken out. It was their father, Dino Gnucci, who had Maria and their daughter killed all those years ago. Maria tells Frank that he may have killed Dino a long time ago, but the family has not been thoroughly punished yet. Castle closes his eyes and says that the real Maria was never so vindictive. When he opens his eyes Maria is gone. Frank takes a shot of whiskey and passes out. [7]
[7] I loved the idea of Frank sort of realizing that his vision of Maria is not really her in a rare moment of clarity. The concept here is that Frank has been trying to rationalize the actions he has taken and those that he wants to do. Deep down he knows that Maria, even though Frank’s heart was initially in the right place, would object to his actions.
Det. Soap is in the 122nd precinct basement looking over old case files of supposed Punisher cases, including that of Dino Gnucci. Detective Molly Von Richthofen (Jennifer Carpenter) enters the basement office of the "Punisher Task Force" and asks if he is Soap [8]. Det. Soap nods his head, and Molly tells him that she has been banished to his Punisher Task Force by Captain Ennis as a punishment. Soap says that she shouldn't view it as a punishment, that there is plenty of solid detective work to be done. She groans and asks what exactly he's trying to find in those old files. He explains to her that the original Punisher-related killings stopped after the murder of mob boss Dino Gnucci, so he suspects that he was the Punisher's prime target all along, and that all of the other mob murders were about getting to him. Molly asks Soap if there is anything she can do to help since she's stuck down in the basement with him anyways. Soap tosses her a thick folder and asks her to make a list of victims of crimes attributed to the Gnucci crime family, especially cases where a victim or their family had military or law enforcement experience, since there's no way one man could wage war against the mob without some serious expertise. Already annoyed with the assignment to the Punisher Task Force, Molly begins looking through the folder.
[8] Jennifer Carpenter won the role of Molly based on the strength of her work in previous films with Zahler. Much like it was important to give Mel the phantom Maria - played wonderfully by Mira Sorvino - to work off of, I knew Whigham would need someone to work off of. This scene was obviously used to introduce Molly to the audience, but it also plays an important part in showing that Soap - despite the disrespect from his superiors - is a solid detective.
Bobby Gnucci leaves a nightclub with two women. They all get into the back of a limo that promptly drives away. The women undress and Bobby snorts cocaine off of their naked bodies. The limo begins going faster and faster, driving recklessly through the city streets. Bobby yells at the driver to slow down, but finds out that the driver is dead and someone else - Castle - is driving the limo. The car finally stops. Bobby tries opening the door to get out, but they won't unlock. Castle gets out of the limo and sends it driving off into the New York Harbor. Bobby and the women in the back of the limo begin to panic as water begins to enter the cab. Bobby tries rolling down the windows, but they aren't working. Bobby then tries to kick the windows out to no avail. He then pulls out a gun and fires at the windows, only to be reminded that the limo is bulletproof when the bullet ricochets off the window and hits one of the topless women in the neck, killing her instantly. Bobby pulls out his phone and calls his brother Carlo, asking him for help. Carlo, however, is strung-out on heroin with a needle hanging out of his arm. Carlo can barely put a sentence together, let alone quickly help his brother. The surviving woman is screaming incredibly loudly following the death of her friend as well as her own imminent demise. Bobby tells her to shut up so he can think, but she continues screaming and crying. Bobby then shoots her in the head to shut her up. Bobby goes back to trying to kick the windows out as the cab is almost completely filled with water. Bobby slowly drowns as the limo ends up at the bottom of the New York Harbor [9].
[9] I’ll be honest, Bobby’s death scene was a lot of fun to write. I really wanted to make Bobby a complete heel in the scene as well to help justify how over-the-top the sequence could appear to be. As long as your villains are worse than your heroes, you can get away with a lot I find.
Frank Castle wakes up in a cold sweat from a nightmare of Maria and their daughter getting into a car that explodes into a fiery blaze. He rubs his eyes for a moment and takes a drink of whiskey. He notices Maria sitting next to him. She tells him that he should have been in the car with them. Castle screams at the apparition of Maria that he wishes he had died with them. At least they could all still be together even if it had to be in the afterlife. Frank breaks down crying and grabs the nearest gun. Castle holds the gun to his head and pulls the trigger, but only hears a click as if the gun is unloaded. Maria tells him that he still has work to do. Castle checks the chamber of the gun, and it is indeed loaded.
Isabella, unable to reach Bobby, asks Carlo if he has heard from his brother. Carlo tells his mother that he hasn't seen him. Captain Ennis arrives at the Gnucci mansion to break the news of Bobby's death to Isabella. He tells her that they pulled his limousine out of the harbor this morning. Isabella, in a fit of rage, grabs a gun out of his desk drawer and begins firing it wildly around the house, hitting various pieces of artwork and home decor. She looks at Ennis with fire in her eyes and demands that he find the man responsible for the deaths of her two youngest sons. He assures her that he has his best people working on it. She wants to know if they think The Punisher is responsible. Captain Ennis is surprised by the question as he doesn't believe The Punisher is real, and tells her that they have no reason to suspect any kind of vigilante. He suggests to her that someone may be trying to take out her family to take over the family business. With an important drug shipment due to arrive at the harbor and concerned that the Punisher may have come back to the city, Isabella calls Barracuda (Tory Kittles) - a hitman and muscle for hire. [10]
[10] In the comics, this is where The Russian would come in. Since we have already seen that character on the big screen, I wanted to do something different. That’s always my goal when I do one of these comic book movies. I want to do stuff with the characters that hasn’t been seen before, and whenever possible use characters the audience is maybe a bit less familiar with. In the comics, Barracuda is one of the Punisher’s most brutal and relentless villains. While he doesn’t have the Russian’s brute strength, I feel he more than makes up for that with his tenacity - some of which is featured in this film, and some of which may be featured in the future.
Soap and Molly turn on the latest episode of The Bugle down in the basement office. Jameson assures the viewers that despite the tabloid rumors, The Punisher has not returned - it's impossible considering he never existed in the first place. Jameson announces that they are ready to take some calls to discuss the latest New York City news. Soap dials the number on the screen and is put through to Jameson. Soap asks Jameson if there is no Punisher, then who is going around offing members of the Gnucci crime family all over again. Jameson hangs up on Soap and once again yells at his producer off-camera. Soap and Molly laugh about the call. Soap asks Molly if she wants to go out to get drinks or something with him. Molly tells him that she is a lesbian. Soap thinks about that for a moment and reiterates his offer to go get drinks over at Lucky's Bar.
Barracuda arrives at the Gnucci mansion. Isabella hires him to protect a shipment of drugs they have coming into the harbor that night. Barracuda says that will be a piece of cake. Isabella then tells him that if a vigilante such as The Punisher shows up to botch the job, she will pay Barracuda $10 million to kill The Punisher. Barracuda gets excited at the sound of a number with so many zeroes and gladly accepts the side offer. Isabella tells her son Carlo that Barracuda will be handling the shipment that night instead of him. Carlo sheepishly nods his head and leaves the mansion.
That night, Carlo is in his penthouse. He cooks up a dose of heroin and shoots it up. He suddenly begins writhing around the floor of his home in pain. He begins convulsing and foaming at the mouth. Frank Castle emerges from the shadows and tells Carlo that he shouldn't use heroin - the stuff will kill him. Castle then leaves the apartment as foam oozes from the mouth of a lifeless Carlo [11].
[11] After the more graphic death of his brothers, I thought it would be interesting to have Carlo die in a very different, more low-key fashion. While not explicitly stated, it also follows a trend in the story of the Punisher using his enemies’ vices and weaknesses against them. Bobby was a party animal, so he is killed in his limo while partying. Eddie was a sexual predator with a tendency of violence towards women, so he has his head blown off while attacking a street walker. And now Carlo is a heroin addict, so he dies from a tainted dose. It has a bit of a kismet feeling to it.
Barracuda successfully picks up the shipment out on the water and turns the boat around to bring it to the docks. As the boat approaches land, it comes under heavy gunfire. Barracuda can't see the gunman, but does see that it is coming from another boat. He guns his boat full throttle toward the other boat, crashing directly into it. With the two boats stuck together, spinning in an endless circle, Frank Castle emerges and confronts Barracuda. Castle says that "Ma" Gnucci is out of sons now, so Barracuda will have to do. Castle pulls out a gun, the same one he tried to kill himself with, but Barracuda knocks it out of his hands with a machete. Castle tackles Barracuda, hitting his arm on the deck of the boat repeatedly until he drops the weapon. Barracuda lets go of the machete and grabs Castle by the throat. Barracuda then stands up, showing his far superior strength by throwing Castle to the other boat with one arm. As Barracuda walks over to the other boat to continue beating up on Castle, Castle tackles Barracuda, sending both fighters overboard and into the cold waters of the New York Harbor. They continue swinging punches at each other as they thrash about in the water. Barracuda holds Castle's head underwater in an effort to drown him. Castle struggles to keep his head above water in Barracuda's grasp. Castle then notices the still-spinning propeller of one of the boats. Frank uses all of his strength to get right up against the propeller, which hits the arm Barracuda is holding Castle with, causing him to let go. Castle then pushes Barracuda toward the propeller again. Barracuda uses his arm as protection, and the boat's propeller takes his arm clean off. Barracuda passes out from blood loss. Castle strenuously swims back to the shore of the harbor [12].
[12] As a writer or filmmaker, you’re probably not going to have many chances for the hero of a story to use a boat propeller as a weapon. Once I knew that the Punisher and Barracuda’s fight would be on a boat, I immediately began thinking of unique ways for Frank to come out on top. When writing an action or fight sequence, I really try to think of things that could only happen then and there. A boat fight is the only place I could picture someone using a moving boat propeller as a weapon so I had to use it.
Soap and Molly are continuing to go through the files at Lucky's Bar when Molly shows Soap a folder detailing the murder of the Castle family by car bomb. She tells him that they had witnessed a mob hit and were set to testify when the family: father Frank, mother Maria and daughter Lisa were all killed in the blast of the bomb. Soap asks why she finds that particular case all that interesting, and she says that they only ever could identify the remains of Maria and Lisa, not Frank. Soap still isn't impressed, but then Molly begins listing off Frank Castle's numerous military achievements in Vietnam, the Cold War, the Gulf War, Somalia, Bosnia - you name it, he was there kicking ass. Soap finally is intrigued and asks if the file has a picture of Frank Castle. Molly shows him Frank's US Marines photo. Soap says they need to find out everything they can about this Frank Castle character [13].
[13] The Punisher is a character that doesn’t wear a mask, so I felt that in this day and age a good detective could figure out his real identity without too much trouble. That is the main reason that I had the world around him painting the Punisher as a myth or urban legend to scare the criminal underworld. If nobody believes he exists, then nobody is going to bother with any kind of real investigation - except Soap.
Isabella Gnucci sits in her office, anxiously awaiting news from Barracuda. She hears something and asks what took him so long. Frank Castle emerges behind her and tells her that he had to kill her hired muscle and the last of her children first. Isabella hangs her head in grief and tells The Punisher to go ahead and do what he came here to do and quit wasting her time. Castle pulls out a gun and fires a single shot to the back of Isabella's head, killing her instantly [14].
[14] After several intricately designed kill scenes, I didn’t want to prolong the death of Ma Gnucci. Frank has felt like she already has suffered from his killing of her sons - now he’s there to kill her to simply finish things off.
Frank Castle goes back down to his sewer hideout. He rips down the newspaper clippings of his killing of the Gnucci crime family. He sits down, exhausted and injured. He grabs a bottle of whiskey and takes a big drink. He sits waiting for Maria to appear to him, but she never does. He says that he never got to say goodbye to her or Lisa. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a tattered picture of the family together. He stares at the picture as his eyes begin to well up with tears.
Mid-Credits: Det. Soap gets his hands on a copy of security footage from the Gnucci mansion and shows Molly a still of the shadowy figure who killed Isabella Gnucci. The figure turns his head just enough to make it look like it could be Frank Castle. [15]
[15] That was The Punisher. Hopefully my comments added to the experience of the film, rather than detract from it. And to answer a question I’ve seen a few times now - Yes, there will be a sequel. I’ve been cooking up some fun ideas and should have things submitted to the studio for approval shortly. I’m looking forward to getting back to work with Mel, Zahler, Shea, Jen and the rest of the gang.
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