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Trivia / The Punisher (2004)

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  • Completely Different Title:
    • Czech Republic: The Executioner.
    • Finland: The Judge.
  • Creator's Pest: Originally, The Punisher was supposed to have a sidekick, David Lieberman, alias Microchip, the Intel man. He was written out as director Jonathan Hensleigh had an intense dislike of the character.
  • Deleted Role: Wizard Magazine editor Jesse Thompson appeared as a customer in the diner where Frank and Joan were before Heck comes in. He was not in the final cut.
  • Dyeing for Your Art:
    • Thomas Jane trained for nearly 7 months with the United States Navy SEALs and gained more than 20 pounds of muscle in doing so. Plus, he dyed his hair black.
    • Kevin Nash had to cut his hair for his role (doing so as part of an angle during his current WWE run).
    • Ben Foster really did acquire some piercings for the part.
  • Enforced Method Acting: When Frank is getting stitched up after fighting the Russian, Rebecca Romijn accidentally went too deep through the prosthetic applied onto Thomas Jane and really pierced him with the needle. Instead of cutting the take, Jane toughed it out and his genuine pain was used in the movie.
  • Follow the Leader: The skull logo; this version of the Punisher's skull has been used in other Punisher-based merchandise past the release of this film, appearing in the form of shirt logos, car decals, gun customization, and even the skull symbol used in the 2017 Netflix series is based heavily on the one from the 2004 film.
  • On-Set Injury: Thomas Jane accidentally stabbed Kevin Nash for real while filming their fight scene.
  • Playing Their Own Twin: James Carpinello portrays Bobby and John Saint.
  • Saved from Development Hell: Marvel Comics began development for a new Punisher film as early as 1997.
  • Stillborn Franchise: Plans for a sequel remained in Development Hell until Thomas Jane pulled out. What came next was the reboot Punisher: War Zone.
  • Throw It In!: Much of the torture exchange between Will Patton and Ben Foster was improvised.
  • What Could Have Been:
    • Howard Saint was originally named Bruno Costa.
    • The first scene in the movie was originally intended to be a battle set in Kuwait during the first Gulf War, but the reduction in budget rendered that impossible.
    • Hugh Jackman turned down the lead role in order to star in Van Helsing. This would have been the second time he played a Marvel anti-hero and he would've reunited with Rebecca Romijn.
    • Patrick Swayze was considered for Howard Saint.
    • In the script, Livia Saint was supposed to commit suicide and not be killed by Howard Saint. She died the same way shown in the movie, but in the script she willingly threw herself off the bridge.
  • Write Who You Know: Frank's fake fire hydrant ploy was inspired by someone the director knew in Manhattan, who used this trick to illegally keep parking spaces open for themselves.

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