National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Lionsgate Films released The Punisher in April 2004, bringing Marvel's vigilante antihero back to the screen after a 1989 adaptation. Directed by Jonathan Hensleigh and starring Thomas Jane, the film carved out a dedicated cult following among action and comics audiences, representing an early chapter in Lionsgate's growing relationship with Marvel properties before the superhero genre reshaped Hollywood entirely.

This cell, confirmed as Punisher Skull Emblem - Lions Gate Films, captures the production's most enduring visual: the iconic skull chest emblem rendered in two distinct exposures on adjacent 35mm frames. The stylised negative treatment alongside a warmer sepia pass suggests a title sequence print effect, preserving in a single strip the deliberate graphic design that became the film's defining image.