If you missed out on a cameo from The Punisher in Deadpool & Wolverine, you can always console yourself with the best Punisher movie ever made.
While there are aton of crazy cameosinDeadpool & Wolverine, there’s no appearance by any version ofThe Punisher, despite the character being mentioned several times. He’s notable for his absence, especially considering he’s one of the few Marvel characters with multiple live-action movies to his name.
Those movies often teased sequels, but no official one was ever produced. However, an unofficial sequel did hit YouTube, and it has a way bigger impact on the character’s modern depictions than you may think.
It’s the first installment of the Bootleg Universe, a multimedia project headed up by producer Adi Shankar, best known for producing Netflix’sCastlevaniaand the upcomingDevil May Cry anime.
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It’s a pretty by-the-numbers Punisher story. Frank, living in a van on the streets of New York, is just trying to get his laundry done when a gang terrorizes a number of passers-by. He attempts to mind his own business but ultimately is forced to intervene.
What follows is a symphony of violence as Frank takes down the gang with just his wits and a bottle of Jack Daniels. The effects on display here are gruesome; if you can’t handle spurts of blood or the multitude of bones protruding from limbs, this short isn’t for you.
The Punisher: Dirty Laundry was a hot topic when it was released, not least of all because the movie was, at best, a glorified Marvel fan film that was released while The Avengers was still in theaters. Its legacy has persisted through today, though, and ironically thanks to theMCU.
While you wait for that, check out ourDeadpool 3 ending explainer, or find all theEaster eggs in the moviewith us. You can also read about Deadpool & Wolverine’sjaw-dropping box officeand look ahead toupcoming Marvel movieslikeAvengers Doomsday.
Christopher Baggett was a TV & Movies Writer on Dexerto’s US team and a comics expert, across DC Comics and Marvel. He also has bylines at ComicsBeat, Comic Book Resources, and The HomeWorld.
