National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Lionsgate released The Punisher in April 2004, adapting Marvel's long-running vigilante comic for a post-9/11 audience hungry for morally complicated action. Directed by Jonathan Hensleigh and starring Thomas Jane, the film leaned into gritty revenge drama rather than superhero spectacle, carving out a devoted cult following on home video even as its theatrical run proved modest.

This cell captures the Frank Castle Detonation sequence as it unfolds between Quentin Glass and Howard Saint in what appears to be an upscale interior, venetian blinds casting structure behind the two figures. The strip opens on a warm overexposed flash before settling into a sustained two-shot — a quiet, charged moment just before the film's elaborate revenge mechanism closes around Saint's world.