The Punisher 2

The Punisher 2 was a planned sequel to The Punisher.

Cast

• Thomas Jane as Frank Castle/The Punisher
• Michael Keaton as Billy Russo/Jigsaw.

Plot

The plot involved Frank Castle, now as the Punisher drives to New York City to find and kill his next target. However, it was revealed that the next target was Jigsaw going to be the next main antagonist of the sequel.

Why It Was Cancelled

1. Jonathan Hensleigh didn't like the scripts presented to him and ended up leaving the project.
2. Thomas Jane dropped out of the film as due to creative differences and the budget of the film being cut, in addition to director Walter Hill being turned down as director by Lionsgate. He stated, "What I won't do is spend months of my life sweating over a movie that I just don't believe in. I've always loved the Marvel guys, and wish them well. Meanwhile, I'll continue to search for a film that one day might stand with all those films that the fans have asked me to watch."
3. John Dahl pulled out due to script quality issues and the studio not wanting to spend a lot of money on the project.
4. The film entered in Development Hell and remained there for 3 years until it was definitively canceled by Lionsgate, where they decided to use the project's ideas for a reboot.

Result

• The Punisher 2 was permanently cancelled.
• The sequel film's storyline was rebooted in 2008 titled Punisher: War Zone with Ray Stevenson as Castle.
• The Punisher (2004) is a stand-alone film.
• Thomas Jane would only return to reprise his role as Frank Castle in the 2012 short fan film Punisher: Dirty Laundry, which is serves as a sequel to the first film.