During the production, Dolph and producer/writer Robert Kamen both declared in interviews to be very interested in doing a sequel.
"If The Punisher had a sequel, would you do it?
-Oh yes, I would, it's a very square guy in the comics, but in the film he's unpredictable, that's what I like, he talks to someone and suddenly he becomes crazy, he explodes."
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Ciné-News, #19, January 1989 (translated from French)
"But that doesn't mean I wouldn't do a second Punisher film," "I like Mr. P. He's a cool cat."
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Comics Scene, #9, Summer 1989
Since then Kamen realized he doesn't like producing and came back to writing, and Dolph who hadn't not seen the final cut back then, came back on his point of view being disappointed by the end result:
"Dolph Lundgren will have to decide in between for a potential Punisher II. New World is waiting for his signature, when the first, big success all around the world, still isn't released in the United States."
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Impact, # 27, June 1990 (translated from French)
"Masters of the Universe, Red Scorpion 2, The Punisher 2 and even the sequel to Cover Up... The list of sequel projects on Dolph's agent desk is long."..."He mentions The Punisher with some kind of sourness/bitterness, avoids Dark Angel, avoids Masters of The Universe all the way..."
- from
Impact, # 30, December 1990 (translated from French)
"It's hard for me to criticize a product, because I don't like to mention names. It just deserved a better fate. Actually, when I watch The Punisher now, I think I was pretty good in that role, and I looked really good. I think it was all there; it was just the production values and everything that didn't add up to what it should have been," ...
"They didn't put enough time into everything --the story, the development, the picture's look. There was many things that could have been done better,"..."if I did it over again, I would make sure it was a better picture before I signed onto it. Back in '88, I wasn't as experienced and I couldn't really judge some of the things that I can judge now, and I think that's the difference."
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Starlog, n°181, August 1992
" "The Punisher." -"Um", thinks Dolph, "what can I say about The Punisher? Um." "Nothing?" -"I don't know what to say. I had a special Harley built for me?" "
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Movieline, volume VI n°10, July 1995
It's strange though that New World, which had been sold to a company that wasn't interested in theatrical, came back a year later with a new division and announced THE PUNISHER II (which Dolph sure wasn't gonna do at that point, even though the Variety article claims they were "in talks" (meaning they probably only made an offer). And almost none of their new line-up projects (like SHE-HULK !) came to life aside from those that were already produced and acquired. Maybe it was just to attract attention or test the potential market. I found out in interviews that it happens companies announce project they really have the intention to actually make from the get go, even when they already spend some money on it...