"Welcome Back, Frank!"

Thomas Jane is back as Frank Castle, The Punisher in this kick-ass short film shown during the recently-ended San Diego Comic-Con International.

At the recently-ended San Diego Comic-Con International, fans at the unassuming small convention room where the panel for actor Thomas Jane and artist Tim Bradsheet's RAW Studios took place were treated to one hell of an unexpected surprise: An ass-kicking short film directed by Phil Joanou and featuring actors Ron Perlman and Thomas Jane in a cool reprisal of his role as Frank Castle, The Punisher, in the eponymous 2004 film.

While the 2004 live-action adaptation of Marvel's iconic vigilante isn't exactly an absolutely irredeemable train-wreck many thought it was, it certainly underwhelmed in more ways than one. However, one bright spot of the film would be Jane's nuanced portrayal as good ol' Frank Castle.

In Dirty Laundry, stylized as #DIRTYLAUNDRY, the fact that Thomas Jane is actually playing the role of The Punisher is in itself a spoiler that will only be revealed in the final scene of the film. Nevertheless, that piece of spoiler has by now been known to all that further cover-up only serve to wane any likely interests to check out the ten-minute short film.

In the film, Frank went on his routine, normal daily lives in a crime-filled hell, and was inevitably forced into one hell of killing spree, despite some kind asvice from Ron Perlman's character, a convenience store clerk.

With no further ado, hit the jump to check out the awesome clip.



From the words of Thomas Jane himself:

"I wanted to make a fan film for a character I've always loved and believed in - a love letter to Frank Castle & his fans. It was an incredible experience with everyone on the project throwing in their time just for the fun of it. It's been a blast to be a part of from start to finish -- we hope the friends of Frank enjoy watching it as much as we did making it."

So for those still wondering if there is a Marvel Studios connection with this cool short film, the straight answer is an outright no. This is particularly interesting, given the fact that Tim Bradstreet, the artist best known for his awesome pseudo-realistic interpretation of Frank Castle in his cover art for The Punisher, even went as far as contributing a redesign of the famous Skull logo of the character.

For now, it is anybody's guess if the film will eventually be taken down by Marvel or if the powers-that-be at Marvel might see something they like here.

Here are some of the images from the film provided by director Phil Joanou, followed by the new logo mentioned earlier.










And here's the new Punisher logo created for the short film by artist Tim Bradstreet, known for his brilliant cover art for The Punisher.

Thomas Jane and Tim Bradsheet.

Apparently, Jane and Bradsheet's RAW Studio is moving ahead with some cool projects across several different forms of mediums. One especially eye-catching project would be Bad Planet, an upcoming comic book series and its video game adaptation in collaboration with Red Fly Studio. Currently a Kickstarter project, bot the comic book and the game seems ambitious and unique enough to warrant a closer look.