National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Lionsgate Films released The Punisher in April 2004, adapting Marvel's long-running vigilante comic for a new generation following the character's 1989 theatrical debut. Directed by Jonathan Hensleigh and starring Thomas Jane, the film arrived during a pivotal expansion of Marvel properties into mainstream cinema, predating the unified Marvel Cinematic Universe by several years. It remains a notable artifact of that transitional era in superhero filmmaking.

This cell captures the Marvel Studios opening title card, as confirmed under the title Opening Credits - Marvel. The frame holds the animated comic book pages cycling behind the MARVEL logo, a signature sequence that marked Marvel's growing identity as a production force during this period of the studio's evolution.