Writer for Raid Remake Pitched a Punisher Movie to Marvel

It looks like The Raid remake writer Adam G. Simon actually tried to pitch a Punisher movie to Marvel Studios.

Speaking in an interview with ComicBook.com, The Raid remake director Joe Carnahan revealed that Adam Simon, the writer of the upcoming remake of Gareth Evan's 2011 martial arts movie The Raid, actually got to speak with Marvel about making a movie for the Punisher.

The entertainment news outlet decided to talk with Simon about his pitch, and it looks like there are a lot of details about the writer's idea for his Punisher movie and who he'd cast for roles in the film. According to Simon, his pitch looked like "Falling Down by the way of Full Metal Jacket." The writer prepared fifteen pages with a pitch deck for Marvel, however, the studio opted to go with a series instead and so Simon thought that retelling the Punisher's origin story for the Marvel Cinematic Universe would be a bit too much.

"I put together the opening fifteen pages, the pitch deck, everything. Then, the series came. That changes things" the writer told the entertainment news outlet, "Going back and retelling the origin story would be a mistake (my opinion). I think you build off of what has been built. It's a very sick obsession that I have with The Punisher, so my hobby is an ever-evolving pitch document that changes with each attempt Hollywood makes at the character. Now, it's a whole different animal."

Before his version had been canceled, Simon managed to nab Eminem for the music and soundtrack of his Punisher movie. The writer also wanted to have Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle, just like Marvel's Netflix series. However, Simon also wanted a few different characters as well – Joel Edgerton for Bullseye, Jeffrey Wright or Russell Crowe as Micro, and Kirstin Scott Thomas or Edie Falco as Ma Gnucci.

While it's such a shame that Simon's pitch never got turned into a movie, we can still hope that Marvel gives Frank Castle his own movie in the MCU.

Phase 4 of the MCU begins when Black Widow premieres on May 1, 2020.

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