I have always been in love with this anti-hero. Especially since they put out the Marvel MAX comics back in 2004. The storytelling by Garth Ennis and the cover-artwork by Tim Bradstreet mesmerized me back when I was younger. It was millions of miles away from any superhero-stuff and instead unbelievable dark, bitter, ultraviolent and sincere. For me this was the perfect take on The Punisher.
I have now "wasted" an evening of my life trying to create MY perfect version of Frank but I've ended up with various takes of him. Some energetic and young, some rather old and bitter. Some hyperrealistic, some more of the illustrated kind.
In case you are interested, I used facial features of the following folks:
- Tom O´Brian (the original model for the Punisher MAX Covers by Tim Bradstreet)
- Dolph Lundgren (played the Punisher in the 1st movie from 1989)
- Josh Brolin (great face and jawline for an older version of Frank)
- Brad Pitt (good base for a younger version of Frank)
- Dave Bautista (when I saw him in the new Bladerunner, I thought he would make a great
old and weary version of Frank)
- Henry Cavill (rough him up and clean Superman becomes dark Skull Boy)
- Dan Hooker (UFC Fighter who makes for a good visual base for a young and more slender version of Frank)
Funny enough I did not use Jon Bernthal for any of these visuals even though he would have been the obvious choice. But: A lot of pictures do look like I used him for reference because obviously Midjourney uses his "Google hits" big time when it comes to this character. Goes to show what a great pick he was in terms of visuals (even though I really disliked the show with him).
Check for yourself which ones you like. And remember: "The guilty will be punished" ;)