Former Paul Thomas Anderson Cinematographer, Robert Elswit, gets attached to shoot for the Punisher special
Jon Bernthal has played the Marvel Comics character Frank Castle, a.k.a. The Punisher, in season 2 of the Netflix Daredevil series and two seasons of his own The Punisher series, and he’s reprised the role in the Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again. Marvel Television boss Brad Winderbaum recently let it slip that Bernthal is also set to star in a The Punisher Special Presentation for Disney+ – and a while back, it was rumored that filming on the special presentation would begin in mid-July and continue through the first week of August in New York. As it turns out, the rumor was true, and set videos and images have been making their way online throughout production.
Now, World of Reel has revealed that Robert Elswit, a frequent collaborator of Paul Thomas Anderson, is attached as the DP of the new Punisher Special Presentation. Elswit’s credits include the gritty cinematography of films like Nightcrawler and The Town. He has also shot for grand action spectacles like Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and The Bourne Legacy. Elswit was Paul Thomas Anderson’s trusty cinematographer before the two had a falling out making Inherent Vice. He’s also worked with Punisher director Renaldo Marcus Green on his recent films, which include Bob Marley: One Love and King Richard.
Bernthal wrote The Punisher Special Presentation with Reinaldo Marcus Green, who directed Bernthal in the 2022 mini-series We Own This City. This will mark Bernthal’s first official writing credit.
Winderbaum previously said, “It’s like a shotgun blast of a story, but also has all the pathos and emotion that you want out of a Frank Castle story. It’s so exciting.“ Speaking with Collider, Bernthal added, “I’ve said it a million times: Frank is in my bones, is in my heart. I care about him. In discussing what this thing could be and this sort of version of Frank that I really felt that the audience was hungry for, that the military community was hungry for it, the first responder community, the comic book fans, they were really hungry for it. I presented that version to them, and they encouraged me. They encouraged me to keep coming to the table. As we were talking with different writers, the ideas that we were coming up with started to resonate, and I think they saw how much they resonated with me.“
According to Nexus Point News, “Plot details are currently under wraps but it is likely to follow Frank Castle after he escapes Wilson Fisk’s private prison. In May, insider DanielRPK reported that a female crime boss was being cast for the special. NPN can corroborate this rumor as casting for this character is currently underway. Character details hint at this crime boss being Punisher villain, Ma Gnucci.” Fans of the comic book will remember Ma Gnucci as a major character in the very popular “Welcome Back, Frank” storyline written by Garth Ennis back in 2000.
Once Bernthal finishes working on The Punisher Special Presentation, he’ll be reporting to the set of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, as Frank Castle / The Punisher has a role in that film as well.
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