The Punisher or Spawn... which needs a reboot first?

[Ultron-5]

The Punisher was in 3 movies, starring 3 different actors as Frank Castle. None of them were all too great and they weren't too successful at the box office. Thomas Jane, who portrayed The Punisher in the 2004 film, returned as The Punisher in the superb 2012 short film "Dirty Laundry". Spawn appeared in the lackluster 1997 film starring Michael Jai White as the titular character alongside John Leguizamo as Violator. Which of these darker comic book characters should be rebooted first?

 

[harryoscop]

Punisher will probably be introduced in the MCU before Todd McFarlane makes his Spawn movie (which seems to be taking forever!).

 

[Rorschach2012]

both are awesome characters, but we've seen a lot of The Punisher, and I think i prefer Spawn... so i went with Spawn. A Spawn movie along the lines of the HBO series would be amazing

 

[Heretic]

The Punisher should get a very adult Netflix series. The character has been tried multiple times at the box office and not enough people care.

I'd go for a Spawn reboot...but make it a totally different tone. Maybe make it a Horror movie instead of an action film.

 

[Decepticonus]

Let Spawn stay in the 90s with his extreme chains and spikes.

 

[random_havoc]

Never liked Spawn except for his general look.

Punisher on the other hand has had a number of really good stories. I think he'd be great either in a netflix series or in a movie that takes advantage of being part of the greater MCU. Part of what makes him interesting in the comics is when he's going against supers and he's just a regular human with great training.

 

[kedrell]

I really don't care about either character but since it's under the MCU banner then I'd vote for Punisher. He'll probably show up in the Netflix shows next time we see him. Maybe when they get around to their 2nd seasons.

 

[Wildcard]

Spawn since the Punisher has had TWO (or three, depends on how you view it) failed adaptations in a row. I love both characters but Spawn really deserves a movie that does the character justice.

 

[flickchick85]

Spawn, partially because he wouldn't be subjected to the content limitations of the Disney/Marvel brand. I'm not sure the MCU would ever let the Punisher be as dark as he ought to be.

That said, I do hope to see the MCU version of the Punisher at some point, just maybe not in his own film.

 

[Wildcard]

That sounds like the best thing to do. I just feel like Spawn deserves it more since he only got one opportunity that was a massive failure. It's about time for him to be reintroduced to the general audience via a film that accurately depicts him.

 

[Saitou Hajime]

Spawn. I've always believed that Punisher worked better in small doses as the foil to a more traditional hero, as opposed to headlining his own show.

 

[lanesrader]

Spawn for me. I saw the movie when I was 8 and I loved it. I still do. It would be really cool to see it rebooted with better CGI.

 

[Daltonio]

I voted for Spawn, only because I'm really hoping they just bring Ray Stevenson back as The Punisher and continue from there rather than rebooting the series. Unlikely I know, but I can dream.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

As interesting as the idea of a Spawn movie could be, I don't see if it will be satisfactory enough.
And Punisher so far, his name alone is movie poison.

 

[Victarion]

I got my first collection of Spawn comics back when I was in fourth grade...so about when I was somewhere between 8-10 years old. He was my first superhero, and still remains one of my favorites for his cool costume and cool backstory. My childhood demands a better Spawn movie. So Spawn it is.

 

[The Whizzer]

Fun fact: Roger Ebert gave Spawn 3 1/2 stars...a higher rating than he gave Blade Runner when it was released. And speaking of Blade Runner, in his review for Spawn he compared the film to both Blade Runner and Metropolis. That has always been my biggest WTF Roger Ebert? moment.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

It was visually impressive for the time.

 

[Hypestyle]

I don't so much care about Spawn anymore.

I'd like to see the Punisher get introduced to the NetFlix Marvel TV shows. The live-action films, despite being low-budget to begin with, never caught on commercially at the box office, even though they arguably found their audiences on cable and video and became modestly profitable.

 

[Decepticonus]

Is Spawn really relevant any longer? I would think not.

 

[Victarion]

Is Spawn really relevant any longer? I would think not.

Iron Man came back from irrelevance in a pretty big way with Favreau's Iron Man movie, as did the Guardians of the Galaxy with Gunn's movie. I'm all for the experimentation of a better Spawn movie. Those spikes and chains could make for a few interesting metaphors...

 

[The Whizzer]

Is Spawn really relevant any longer? I would think not.

No, but the rise of dark and gritty reboots makes its absence all the more baffling. We're already allegedly getting a Crow reboot.

 

[Victarion]

Define dark and gritty.

 

[Rowsdower!]

The Punisher. None of the films have gotten him right. Spawn looked cool in his movie and they cast the role well, even if the rest of it was awful. I wouldn't mind seeing the character revisited but I honestly don't care that much one way or the other.

While I liked Thomas Jane as the Punisher I still felt like the movie didn't get the character right. And the other Punisher movies are just crap.

 

[DarKush]

Good question. I hadn't thought of comparing the two characters. I'm going to go with Spawn. So far we've gotten three Punisher movies, the Jane one good and the Stevenson one decent (and from what I remember of the Lundgren film I liked it too) so for the most part I think they have gotten that character right even though both of those later films.

The Spawn film was a major let down, so much so that I lost interest in the character pretty much after that. I think McFarlane sold out to get the film made and it lost its soul. I would like to see a R-rated, horror/crime/action movie more in the spirit of the HBO cartoon. It's a good time with the support for comic films for a Spawn revival. And maybe they could push the boundaries with a R-rated comic book film. Or if not R-rated, a hard-PG-13.

 

[Tony Stark]

I like McFarland's art work, but I'm not a Spawn fan, so I'd say Punisher, but only as a Netflix series, I don't think he needs another movie.

Having said that, Punisher War Zone is one of my guilty pleasure movies. I know it's terrible, but I love it. I seriously love it.