I thought the Tom Jane Punisher movie that came out in 2004 was pretty lame, regardless of the fact that Jane himself went above and beyond the call of duty with his total dedication to the role and fans of Frank Castle.

And when it became clear to Jane that the sequel was shaping up to fail on every level, he bowed out to save the fans from another heartache.

Then something else happened. Rome actor Ray Stevenson was cast as the new Frank Castle, and gorgeous kickboxing champ Lexi Alexander signed up to direct not a sequel but a total reboot, which is something Marvel Comics seems to be doing a lot these days.

(Just look at what’s going on with The Incredible Hulk, which is getting its own brand new franchise courtesy of writer/actor Ed Norton.)

(And for my money, I enjoyed the 1989 Dolph Lundgren version of The Punisher for what it was.)

Anyway, production has begun on the new movie, which has been titled Punisher: War Zone (after a Marvel Comics series that began in 1992 and wrapped up in 1995).

So if you’re a Punisher fan, you should hot-foot-it right now to Superhero Hype’s coverage of the film.

They’ve got a synopsis, photos from the set, lots of comments from Lexi Alexander and the first official photo of Ray Stevenson in his Punisher gear.

When I first read about Stevenson being cast as the new Punisher, I thought he’d make a pretty good Punisher. But when I look at that photo, it looks to me like they tried to make him look as unlike Ray Stevenson as they possibly could.

He looks more like Steven Seagal.

And I’m not sure it works.

Maybe they should have just gotten Steven Seagal.

I don’t know what I’m saying.

But here’s something I do know:

Tom Jane might just get the last laugh after all. Here’s a hilarious audio clip of Jane trashing the new Punisher movie, and I guarantee it’s more entertaining than any past or future Punisher production.

Please give it a listen.

You’ll thank me later.

Hilarious.

I’m pretty sure he’d been drinking.

And hopefully this means he’s finally free to make Homeless Dad.

“I just want my kids back!”