In just a few short years, Tom Hardy has shot from the breakout star of Inception to potentially headlining his own franchise in this month’s highly anticipated Mad Max: Fury Road. However, with so many major Hollywood stars circling comic book projects, one might wonder when Hardy will find himself an ongoing role in such a film – especially since his version of Bane in The Dark Knight Rises was clearly a one-off appearance.
Of course, Hardy was forced to drop out of DC’s upcoming Suicide Squad film, vacating a role that eventually went to Robocop star Joel Kinnaman. He recently opened up about the decision to leave that project, and now we have some indication of what comic book characters he has his sights on next.
Collider recently caught up with Hardy and asked if there are any other superhero projects he’d want to star in. Here’s what he had to say:
“I want The Punisher… I want The Punisher, or Splinter Cell, I want something…I don’t know what I want. … I’m not big enough to be The Punisher, I’m 5’9” [Laughs]. … Frank Castle, I would love it.”
Hardy has long been attached to star in a film based on the popular Splinter Cell video game series under director Doug Liman, but there has been little movement reported on that in nearly a year. The more interesting part of Hardy’s answer, to be sure, is his name drop of the Marvel Comics vigilante known as The Punisher.
Over the years, Frank Castle has been given the feature film treatment three times (all relative failures), but since the character’s rights have reverted back to Marvel, it has seemed only a matter of time before the company gives the Punisher another shot. Given the success of Daredevil on Netflix, it’s plausible that Frank Castle could receive his own series order in a similar format, considering the far darker and more violent tone of his stories.
At this point, there’s no telling what Marvel’s plans are for the Punisher (or if they have any) – and whether the studio takes the character to Netflix or the big screen would likely affect how game Hardy would be to sign on. That being said, the actor could lend the star power and built-in fanbase needed to attract attention to any Punisher project. After all, if Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey can star on True Detective, it’s possible that Hardy might agree to headline a Punisher Netflix series.
Source: Screen Rant
