black characters in Punisher: War Zone film

I’m a huge fan of Garth Ennis’ Punisher. While the recent Punisher film (with Thomas Jane in the title role) wasn’t terrible, I thought it could’ve been truer to Ennis’ vision of the character, since the screenplay obviously drew from his run on the book, including characters like Joan and Spacker Dave and the Russian. So when I heard they were making a new Punisher film, I admit I wasn’t all that thrilled, especially since the title, Punisher: War Zone, sounded like it would be more evocative of the 616 version of Frank and not the Max one. Plus, it looks like it’s gonna restart from square one yet again!

But now I’m finding out that this new film is gonna draw on the Ennis comics as well as the in-continuity 616 version. Detective Soap from the Marvel Knights run is in, for example, and while I’d love for him to remain exactly as he is in the comics, I wonder if that will happen, since he is usually played for laughs. (To his eternal credit, though, Ennis was still able to find moments throughout the MK run to touch on Soap’s humanity, to make him a bit more of a realistic person.)

But that’s not why I’m talking about it here. Two other Ennis characters will be in the film, both from the Max run, and both black:

- Colin Salmon will play Agent Budiansky from the recent story arc “Widowmaker.” In that story, he’s a top cop on the trail of a group of mob widows out to kill Frank, but at the same time, he’s haunted by an act from his past that makes him wonder whether or not he’s capable of becoming like Frank one day.

My inclination is to think, why do you need this character when you already have Soap, who’s a better known and way more popular character? I suspect, though, that the screenplay may touch upon whether or not Budiansky could become another Punisher - though how he’ll end up playing against Soap (who will likely have the bigger role) I’m not sure. It’s certainly an interesting choice - someone from a very recent story arc, someone who, while pivotal within “Widowmaker,” isn’t a recurring character like Nicky Cavella, O’Brien, Rawlins or Barracuda. Or Soap.

- Also (just announced today), TJ Storm will play Maginty, from the story arc “Kitchen Irish.” Here’s a really wild choice. In “Kitchen Irish,” Maginty is a gangster from Ireland (and how many black Irishmen do you know of?) who is one among several factions in the former Westies neighborhood of Manhattan after a treasure trove left behind by a dead neighborhood mobster.

I suppose it’s possible that the novelty of a black Irish character is what attracted the screenwriters. Still, he’ll very likely be secondary in the film to Jigsaw, who is one of Frank’s greatest foes in the 616 continuity. (Kinda surprised Ennis hasn’t tried writing him into the Max line yet. He brought over Microchip from 616, after all.) I could see Maginty rewritten as one of Jigsaw’s minions, even though in “Kitchen Irish” he was leader of his own crew, though if that’s the case I kinda wish they had made an original character instead.

It’s quite unusual how this new film picks and chooses from the different Punisher eras: Jigsaw to represent his heyday in 616 continuity, Soap for Ennis’ MK run (which kinda had one foot in continuity and one foot out) and Maginty and Budiansky to represent the Max run, which is totally the Ennis-verse version. If I were making this film, I’d be more inclined to adapt a single story arc - Steven Grant’s original mini-series, for example, or “In the Beginning” from the Max run. While these characters aren’t completely incompatible, I suspect they’ll be altered somewhat in order to fit together, and if that’s the case I can’t say I’m too thrilled about that. At least Joan, Spacker Dave and the Russian were all from the same story arc.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out.