John Travolta’s Critically Panned Marvel Movie Is a Free Streaming Hit

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Not long after Marvel unveiled the first trailer for Daredevil: Born Again, which features the return of Jon Bernthal to the role of Frank Castle, an older iteration of the character is making rounds on streaming. The Punisher, the 2004 film starring Thomas Jane and John Travolta, has climbed to the #8 spot on Tubi. The superhero flick follows an undercover FBI agent who turns into a vigilante and promises to claim vengeance on the corrupt business officials who killed his entire family. In addition to Travolta and Jane, The Punisher also stars Samantha Mathis and Laura Harring, and the film sits at scores of 29% from critics and 63% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. It also earned $54 million at the worldwide box office against a $33 million budget.

Jonathan Hensleigh and Michael France wrote the script for The Punisher, and Hensleigh also directed the film. Hensleigh is best known for his work as a scribe on the original Jumanji film starring Robin Williams and Kirsten Dunst, and he also made his screenwriting debut a few years before that, in 1993, with A Far Off Place, the desert adventure thriller starring Reese Witherspoon. More recently, Hensleigh wrote and directed The Ice Road, the 2021 action thriller starring Liam Neeson and Laurence Fishburne, and he also wrote and directed Kill the Irishman, the 2011 R-rated true-crime thriller with a star-studded cast led by the late Ray Stevenson, Christopher Walken, and Vincent D’Onofrio. Some of his other famous work came from writing the script for Next, the 2007 time-traveling sci-fi thriller starring Nicolas Cage and Julianne Moore.

Will Thomas Jane Ever Reprise His Role As the Punisher?

thomas-jane-the-punisher-social Image via Lionsgate

It’s unlikely that Thomas Jane will ever return to Marvel and reprise his role as Frank Castle/The Punisher, but it is impossible to rule out, thanks to the magic of the multiverse. With Avengers: Secret Wars only a few years away, and the film expected to be a multiversal blowout flush with cameos from different eras of Marvel stories, the MCU could tap Jane to feature in a scene as Frank Castle, potentially even starring alongside Bernthal’s Punisher. Only time will tell whether a return to the iconic Marvel role is in store for the actor who last suited up for a feature film more than 20 years ago.

Stay tuned to Collider for more streaming updates and watch The Punisher on Tubi.

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The Punisher

Director Jonathan Hensleigh

Runtime 124 Minutes

WATCH ON TUBI

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