City Of Heroes: The Punisher: Thomas Jane Interview

by Rob Allstetter, Comics Continuum

TAMPA, Fla. -- Thomas Jane checks the mirror, not once or even twice, but three times. Each time he plays with his jet-black bangs, positioning them just so. After a few make-up touches, Jane releases the mirror and any illusions of vanity.

Because the camera takes a fuller look. Jane is also wearing a long black coat and a black shirt with the smeared-but-familiar logo of The Punisher, Marvel's vigilante anti-hero who is being brought to live-action, this time by Artisan Entertainment more than a decade after a version starring Dolph Lundgren never made it to theaters.

Jane, perhaps best known as Mickey Mantle in HBO's baseball film *61, has taken on The Punisher full throttle, more than just looking the part. He trained with Navy SEALs extensively for the action-packed role and in the last week of production, his game face is obvious, even during a lunch meeting with the media before the day's final scenes were filmed.

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"The skull means two things," says Jane, puffing on a Camel. "It means if you see me coming, I am the angel of death.

"It also means that I'm dead. All of the contraints, the physical bounds of society and the rules that you live by and all the things that physically constrain you to a social and a more life, I am dead to all of that. Which makes me extremely dangerous. Because I don't give a fine fuck if I live or die or if I'm right or wrong. It's not for me to say or judge or do.

"I think the skull being more than a target -- something for the bad guys to shoot at -- the significance is that I am not of this world and fear me. Because I am dead."

Get the rest of the interview at Comics Continuum.