Here are Sylvester Stallone’s thoughts on ever playing comic book characters like Batman or The Punisher. Stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone largely dominated the action genre during the 1980s. The pair have since admitted they were locked in a bitter feud during this period, with both trying to constantly outdo the other in terms of physique, body count or box office. Arnold had defining hits such as Predator and The Terminator, while Stallone had his franchises like Rocky and Rambo.

The game changed, somewhat, due to the success of Batman in 1989. Not only did Tim Burton’s blockbuster prove there was money to be made in comic book movies, but Stallone has since mused that Michael Keaton being able to wear fake muscles provided less physical actors with the ability to become action heroes regardless. Stallone himself has largely steered clear from the genre, outside of notable exceptions like Judge Dredd or a small role in the likes of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2.

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During the casting search for Richard Donner’s Superman, Stallone was also briefly considered for the title role. It now appears very unlikely he will ever head a comic book movie franchise, but over the years he’s mulled on the prospect. In 2010, he took part in a series of fan Q&As for AICN and gave his thoughts on playing either The Punisher or Batman. In one AICN session, some fans asked for his response to Frank Miller stating he’d like to see Stallone play the older Batman seen in Miller’s seminal graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns. Stallone responded:

“It sounds very intriguing. I can certainly relate to his plight and the main concern would be: Do you still have fire in the gut at that age to be interesting to watch? If the flame is still burning, which I suspect it will be, since I have reflux and ulcers anyway, something will still be simmering inside. So yes, that would be quite a revelation.”

It would be easy to see an older Sylvester Stallone donning the bat-suit seen in The Dark Knight Returns. The actor himself has explored the question of older icons facing up to their legacy and self-worth as they age with the later Rambo and Rocky movies, with 2006’s Rocky Balboa being an excellent example. Zack Snyder himself has said he would love to adapt Dark Knight Returns someday, but seeing him and Stallone pair for the project feels doubtful now.

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In another AICN Q&A, Stallone was asked about his feelings about playing The Punisher, particularly the more rugged Frank Castle depicted in Garth Ennis’ Punisher MAX run. The actor said, “I’m very interested in THE PUNISHER on several levels and think the story should be resuscitated with or without me.” He also stated he felt the character had been improperly portrayed in previous movies, suggesting he was familiar with Castle’s cinematic output. The concept of the Punisher isn’t a million miles away from the rogue cop he played in 1986’s Cobra either, which is probably about as close to a Sylvester Stallone Punisher that audiences will get.

While playing Batman or The Punisher is unlikely now, Sylvester Stallone does have a couple of comic book movie projects on the way. He will loan his voice to King Shark in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, while he will play a retired superhero in the dark drama The Samaritan.

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About The Author


Padraig Cotter
(3485 Articles Published)

It’s pronounced Paw-rick, not Pad-raig. Now that’s out of the way, a brief introduction. Padraig has been writing about film online since 2012, when a friend asked if he’d like to contribute the occasional review or feature to their site.

A part-time hobby soon blossomed into a career when he discovered he really loved writing about movies, TV and video games – he even (arguably) had a little bit of talent for it. He has written words for Den of Geek, Collider, The Irish Times and Screen Rant over the years, and can discuss anything from the MCU – where Hawkeye is clearly the best character – to the most obscure cult b-movie gem, and his hot takes often require heat resistant gloves to handle.

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He’s super modern too, so his favorite movies include Jaws, Die Hard, The Thing, Ghostbusters and Batman. He can be found as i_Padds on Twitter making bad puns.

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