One of my favorite directors working today is Lexi Alexander, not only because she makes really tough, unflinching action flicks (like Green Street Hooligans) but also because she's not afraid to speak her mind. She's been quite open about her feelings towards Hollywood's treatment of women, in particular female directors, and to me it's a shame she isn't busier. So when she hooked up with Marvel to direct 2008's Punisher: War Zone, a loose "sequel" to the underrated (in my opinion anyway) 2004 film, it should have been a perfect match. But it wasn't. The film bombed and wasn't nearly as good as it could have been. Why? Well, Alexander posted an interview to her blog in which she expressed some thoughts on that...
"Marvel was an equal partner, but unfortunately when there were creative decision conflicts, Marvel would let Lionsgate be the tiebreaker. I always regretted that I made a Marvel movie this way, because 99% of their notes were much better than the studios and I was more in tune with them."
So the point she's making is that Lionsgate totally mucked the whole thing up, and she wishes she had a different working relationship with Marvel at the time. It's hard to blame her. Marvel has found the formula for success but other studios have struggled to make the best use of Marvel's brand or characters. The Punisher rights have since reverted back to Marvel, and there's no doubt he'll eventually be seen on the big screen again. Hopefully Alexander will get another shot to tell Frank Castle's story.
