Multiple Marvel Movies to Leave HBO Max

Long before the days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios produced movies in conjunction with other studio partners. At one point, that meant Lionsgate owned the rights to The Punisher and his supporting characters, a move that resulted in two feature-length films being made. Since they were produced and distributed by Lionsgate—combined with the fact they feature Marvel’s most murderous character—those movies have existed on streaming platforms other than Disney+. Now, they’re both leaving their current streaming home for greener pastures.

As of January 31st, both The Punisher (2004) and Punisher: War Zone (2008) will be removed from HBO Max as the licensing cycle takes them to their next streaming home.

Those movies featured Thomas Jane and Ray Stevenson in the eponymous role as the gun-toting antihero. In the years since, Netflix released a pair of seasons featuring Jon Bernthal in that role. As of 2020, the actor was still hoping a third season could sometime come to fruition.

“It’s unbelievably humbling how much people sort of responded to this version of Frank, and I can’t tell you how much it means to me because he means so much to me. He’s in my blood, he’s in my bones,” Bernthal said at the time. “So it’s not about whether we do it, it’s about getting it right, and doing the version that the fans really deserve. We’ll see. I mean, all of those decisions are made in rooms I am not invited into… But Frank’s always there, he’s always a part of me. And when we get the call to go, I’ll be ready, and I’ll make sure that I do everything I can to make sure that we do it right, or we won’t do it at all.”

Two seasons of The Punisher are now streaming on Netflix.

Who else would you like to see play Frank Castle? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things Marvel!