LogFAQs > #914841090

ParanoidObsessive posted...

80's Punisher is pretty much the only reason anyone even remotely gives a single solitary shit about the Punisher as a character at all.

70's Punisher was literally just an underdeveloped Spider-Man antagonist (if not outright villain) who occasionally guested in Daredevil to rain on his parade as well.

If anything, the popularity of Punisher in the 70's is what led to the oversaturation of him in the 80's and the complete abortion that was Punisher in the 90's. He didn't even start showing up in Captain America and Daredevil until the early 80's. Then Marvel decided to just go nuts and put him everywhere.

And post 80's Punisher has mostly been a succession of batshit insane and outright stupid storylines that almost no one likes, like the time when he died and became an angel to fight demons, or the time when he died and became Frankenstein, or the time where he became a black man to hide from people. Oh, or the time he became Ghost Rider.

And I agree, hence why Punisher 2004 was such a disappointment. The MK Punisher (and eventually transitioning into MAX Punisher) was awesome and completely avoided what you described above in favor of a more gritty down to earth Punisher. What they didn't need to do was turn Punisher into a freaking love story.

There's a reason why the Punisher movie basically became the go-to shorthand argument for "Marvel can't make good films" for about 15 years straight (even more so than the terrible Captain America film). It basically took the success of Blade, X-Men, AND Spider-Man before Marvel started to shake off the stink.

And that is the problem: People think of it only as a Marvel movie. Think of it like just a typical 80's action film and it is pretty fun, not that far removed from something like Cobra, Commando, or Predator.

I've been a comic fan for like 33 years, and I've literally never met a single person who liked that film unironically.

Well, I guess we technically haven't met, but I like it and know a few people who do. I will say it is mostly people who don't like the Punisher comics anyways though.
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