Jason Statham’s New Action Franchise Is His Version of The Punisher

You won’t be seeing Jason Statham in The Punisher’s signature skull outfit, but he’ll still be fighting a righteous, hopeless battle in The Beekeeper 2. Statham played the vengeful retired assassin Adam Clay in The Beekeeper last year, and after the movie’s surprise box office success, Miramax greenlit a sequel. Screenwriter Kurt Wimmer is returning for this installment, but original director David Ayer is falling back to an executive producer role while Timo Tjahjanto is taking over the director’s chair. Tjahjanto is currently on a press tour promoting his movie Nobody 2, and this weekend he revealed his ambitions to turn Clay into Frank Castle.

“I’m definitely drawn to the Beekeeper series just because when I watched it, I always felt that, ‘Wow, this is essentially Statham playing one of my favorite characters in the Marvel universe, which is The Punisher,’” Tjahjanto told ScreenRant. “If I can’t make The Punisher film, if the Gods of film aren’t allowing me to do a Punisher film yet, then I’ll turn Adam Clay into my own version of The Punisher. Which is great!”

Tjahjanto may not have the license or the branding, but he believes Statham is the perfect actor to tell the kind of bittersweet revenge story that draws him to The Punisher. “I think Statham has that quality in him,” he said. “He has that very stoic Frank Castle-esque quality to him. And I love that Adam Clay is definitely a guy who is quite colorful in his choice of violence. He gets really, really creative with his violence.”

Will This Change The Beekeeper 2?

Tjahjanto’s plans for Adam Clay are surprisingly straightforward, but they don’t represent a major change for this character based on the first movie. The Beekeeper is essentially a modern-day Robin Hood tale, with a healthy smattering of conspiracy theories and generational preaching thrown in for good measure. In the movie, Clay is retired from a top secret organization that empowered him to cull humanity’s leaders when needed, yet he wound up returning to his trade when a personal grievance escalated to that point.

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If anything, Clay’s story should be veering into less personal territory in the sequel, as he seems to have defeated everyone he was after and reminded the world of why his organization exists. At this point, he should either be disappearing back into retirement or resuming his duties with a vengeance. However, if he’s anything like Frank Castle, his endless quest for vengeance will inevitably become personal.

The Beekeeper is streaming now on Prime Video and MGM+. There’s no word yet on when the sequel might be coming to theaters. Do you think Clay is a worthy stand-in for The Punisher, or would you rather see Tjahjanto work at Marvel Studios? Let us know in the comments below.