Punisher 2 Details
IGN has the skinny on the story and characters.
by IGN Staff

August 7, 2007 - IGN has the word on The Punisher 2, Liongate's sequel to the 2004 Marvel Comics adaptation. Lexi Alexander will direct the movie, which begins filming this fall in Montreal for a 2008 release. Ray Stevenson (Rome) will play the title role, taking over from Thomas Jane. The screenplay was written by Nick Santora, Kurt Sutter, Matt Holloway and Art Marcum.

The film is currently casting supporting roles; check out our plot information below for more on who's who. Please be advised that some plot SPOILERS follow:

As expected, the villain of the piece is indeed Billy Russo, a.k.a. Jigsaw. In the comics, Jigsaw was a gunman for the Maggia crime family, but in the movie he works for his uncle, Gaitano Cesare -- a wheelchair-bound Mafia don whom Billy openly despises (it's mutual). Jigsaw runs the waterfront docks of New York City and his facial disfigurement remains the handiwork of The Punisher. Despite the inclusion of a supervillain such as Jigsaw, the tone of the piece is definitely still one of gritty realism.

Jigsaw is expecting a lucrative "biological" shipment in from a Romanian crimelord, Cristu Bulat. The deal rubs Cesare the wrong way since he correctly suspects that Jigsaw is looking to sell the item to a Muslim terrorist cell in Queens once he gets it. This isn't the only plotline involving Jigsaw, however. More on that shortly.

Frank Castle remains on the run from the law, although the NYPD aren't exactly overeager to catch him since he's helping to rid the streets of scumbags. The hunt for The Punisher heats up once FBI Special Agent Luke McDonald becomes the bureau's liaison to the NYPD on the Castle case. Luke is obsessed with catching The Punisher for very personal reasons. Luke is partnered with a seemingly sorry excuse for an NYPD detective, the hard-drinking Martin Soap.

It turns out that during his one-man war on crime Frank unintentionally killed an undercover FBI agent, Nick Donatelli, McDonald's ex-partner. (There's a little more fueling Luke's vendetta than that, though.) Frank is remorseful over the agent's death, but he's not quitting his campaign against organized crime. We suspect, though, that he may have a bit of a death wish, punishing himself for his own crimes.

This heavy-handed theme of penance is driven home by Castle's ally, Dante, a former gangbanger and ex-con who used his stash of drug money to open a legit business (an arcade in Harlem) for families to patron.

These different storylines converge when Jigsaw targets Donatelli's widow Angie and her child Gracie for execution. A hostage standoff brings out both the cops and Frank. Jigsaw also happens to be raising an army of multi-ethnic criminals, all of whom are keen on taking down The Punisher. Then there's the biological shipment sale that Frank Castle has to stop.

Look to IGN for more news on The Punisher 2 as it happens!

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