premise: The Punisher is exclusively a comic book.
hypothesis: The Punisher ( Francis `` Frank '' Castle ) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru , with publisher Stan Lee green-lighting the name . In feature films , Dolph Lundgren portrayed the Punisher in 1989 , as did Thomas Jane in 2004 , and Ray Stevenson in 2008 . The Punisher (2004 film) . Screenwriter Jonathan Hensleigh agreed to helm the film during its development stage despite a dispute with Marvel Studios , marking his directorial debut . The film was released on April 16 , 2004 , by Lionsgate , grossing $ 13 million in the United States over its opening weekend , and reached a total gross of $ 54 million against a budget of $ 33 million , but despite its box office success at the time , it received negative reviews from critics .