The Punisher is a fictional character, an antihero who appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru, the character made its first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 (February 1974).

The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder, kidnapping, extortion, coercion, threats of violence, and torture in his war on crime. Driven by the deaths of his wife and two children, who were killed by the mob when they witnessed a gangland execution in New York City's Central Park, the Punisher wages a one-man war on the mob and all criminals in general by using all manner of conventional war weaponry.^[1] His family's killers were the first to be slain.^[2] A war veteran, Frank Castle is a master of martial arts, stealth tactics, guerrilla warfare, and a wide variety of weapons.

The Punisher's brutal nature and willingness to kill made him a novel character in mainstream American comic books in 1974. By the late 1980s, he was part of a wave of psychologically troubled antiheroes and was featured in several monthly publications, including The Punisher War Journal, The Punisher War Zone, and The Punisher Armory. Despite his violent actions and dark nature, the Punisher has enjoyed some mainstream success (although toned down) on television, making guest appearances on Spider-Man: The Animated Series and even The Super Hero Squad Show. In feature films, Dolph Lundgren portrayed the Punisher in 1989, as did Thomas Jane in 2004, and Ray Stevenson in 2008.

Publication history[link]

First appearance[link]

The Punisher was conceived of by Gerry Conway, writer of The Amazing Spider-Man, who helped design the character's distinctive costume:

Conway had drawn a character with a small death's head skull on one breast. Marvel art director John Romita, Sr., took the basic design, blew the skull up to huge size, taking up most of the character's chest, and added a cartridge bandolier that formed the skull's teeth. Amazing Spider-Man penciller Ross Andru was the first artist to draw the character for publication.

Appearing for the first time in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 (February 1974), the Punisher was initially an antagonist of the titular hero. He was a bloodthirsty vigilante who had no qualms about killing gangsters, something that most superheroes of the time refrained from doing. J. Jonah Jameson described him as "the most newsworthy thing to happen to New York since Boss Tweed." In this appearance, the Punisher was determined to kill Spider-Man, who was wanted for the apparent murder of Norman Osborn.^[4] This version of the Punisher was shown as an athletic fighter, a master marksman, and an able strategist. All he would reveal about himself was that he was a former U.S. Marine. He had a fierce temper but also showed signs of considerable frustration over his self-appointed role of killer vigilante. In particular, he was engaged in extensive soul-searching as to what was the right thing to do: although he had few qualms about killing he was outraged when his then-associate, the Jackal, apparently killed Spider-Man by treacherous means rather than in honorable combat. Spider-Man, who was himself no stranger to such torment, concluded that the Punisher's problems made his own seem like a "birthday party."^[4]

The character was a hit with readers and started to appear on a regular basis, teaming up with both Spider-Man and other heroes such as Captain America and Nightcrawler throughout the 1970s and early 1980s.^[5][6][7] During his acclaimed run on Daredevil, writer and artist Frank Miller made use of the character, contrasting his attitudes and version of vigilante action to that of the more liberal Man Without Fear.^[8]

Initial series[link]

In the early 1980s, artist Mike Zeck and writer Steven Grant proposed creating a Punisher series. Marvel published a miniseries whose premiere (January 1986) was bannered on the cover as the first of four; however, the series had always been intended to be five issues long, and the banner was an error that recurred throughout the entire run.^[9] An important element of the story was a retcon that explains that many of the Punisher's more extreme actions to this point were the result of being poisoned with mind-altering drugs.^[10]

An ongoing series, also titled The Punisher, premiered the next year. Initially by writer Mike Baron and artist Klaus Janson, it eventually ran 104 issues (July 1987 – July 1995) and spun off two additional ongoing series — The Punisher War Journal (80 issues, November 1988 – July 1995) and The Punisher War Zone (41 issues, March 1992 – July 1995), as well as the black-and-white comics magazine The Punisher Magazine (16 issues, November 1989 – September 1990) and The Punisher Armory (10 issues, no cover dates, starting 1990), a fictional diary detailing "His thoughts! His feelings! His weapons!" (as stated on the cover of issue #1). The Punisher also appeared in numerous one-shots and miniseries, and made frequent guest appearances in other Marvel comics, ranging from superhero series to the Vietnam War-era comic The 'Nam.

During this era, the Punisher was assisted by his then-partner, Microchip. Serving as a Q type figure, he would supply the Punisher with high-tech vehicles and equipment such as armored combat "battle vans" specially built and customized.

Over the next decade, the Punisher would be shown fighting virtually every known criminal organization including the Italian Mafia, the Russian Mafia, the Japanese Yakuza, the Colombian and Mexican drug cartels, the Aryan Brotherhood, the Chinese Triads, Jamaican Yardies, the Irish Mob, biker gangs, street gangs, gunrunning militias, muggers, killers, rapists, psychopaths, violent racists, sadists, pedophiles, and corrupt city officials. He also assaults criminal business enterprises such as drugs, weapons smuggling, money laundering, and human trafficking.

Due to the Punisher's homicidal nature, few of his foes became recurring antagonists, the most notable of these being the severely scarred enforcer Jigsaw. The Punisher also acquired an arch-nemesis in the form of the Kingpin,^[11] a longtime Spider-Man and Daredevil foe, and developed enmity with Daredevil himself, who likewise abhorred and fought against the Punisher's brutal methods. Villains such as the Jackal, Bushwacker, Doctor Doom,^[12] The Reavers and Bullseye would be used to provide more of a challenge for the character. In addition, heroes such as Spider-Man, Captain America, Daredevil, Ghost Rider,^[13] the Hulk, Wolverine,^[14] Nick Fury, and Moon Knight^[15] would appear. Often the stories would use the appearance of those heroes to provide commentary on the difference between the Punisher and those more colourful characters. During Don Daley's run on The Punisher title, his version of justice was described by the editor as "an eye for an eye."^[16]

Decline[link]

In 1995, Marvel canceled all three ongoing Punisher series due to poor sales. The publisher attempted a re-launch almost immediately, with a new ongoing series Punisher, under the new Marvel Edge imprint, by writer John Ostrander, in which the Punisher willingly joined and became the boss of an organized crime family, and later confronted the X-Men and Nick Fury. The series ran for 18 issues, from November 1995 to April 1997. Writer Christopher Golden's four-issue Marvel Knights miniseries The Punisher: Purgatory (November 1998 – February 1999) posited a deceased Punisher resurrected as a supernatural agent of various angels and demons. This version of the character also appeared in a 4-issue mini-series co-starring Wolverine.

Revivals[link]

A 12-issue miniseries by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, again titled The Punisher (April 2000 – March 2001), under the Marvel Knights imprint, revived the character's popularity. An ongoing series (37 issues, August 2001 – February 2004), primarily by Ennis and Dillon, followed, succeeded in 2004 by an ongoing Ennis series under Marvel's mature-readers imprint, MAX. Returning the character to his lone vigilante roots, those series combined crime focused stories with black humor. The look of the Punisher was modified further removing the white gloves and pairing his traditional skull imprinted shirt with combat trousers, black combat boots and a black trench coat. Castle has used this costume on occasion in mid-2000s stories before The Punisher War Journal vol. 2.

MAX imprint[link]

Continuing his run on the character, Garth Ennis used the freedom of the MAX imprint to write more realistic and hard-edged stories than had previously been seen.^[17][18][19] Ennis has stated that he would "like to see less superheroes";^[20] this desire is reflected in the gritty, realistic tone and the anti-heroic portrayals of both the title character and Nick Fury, who made two guest appearances to the series. Punisher also made it explicit that Castle's timeline was fixed, while Marvel adjusted those of its other characters, with his history never altered or moved up in time. Promotional art for the cover of Punisher vol. 6, #44 (March 2007), gave his birth date as February 16, 1950, but that was removed for the published issues.^[21] After the departure of Ennis as writer, the series was renamed Punisher: Frank Castle with issue #66.

The imprint depicts the Punisher being active for almost 30 years, with Punisher vol. 6, #19 (June 2005), specifying he had killed approximately 2,000 people. Whereas the traditional Punisher stories remained within the United States and involved antagonists and settings of conventional domestic crime, stories of the MAX Punisher often focus on current events, ranging from corporate fraud to sexual slavery and the War on Terror. Many characters are past or current intelligence and military operatives from governmental agencies like the CIA, KGB, Secret Intelligence Service, SAS, militaries and militias from the Balkans and Middle East, also including the IRA, all with agendas rooted in past conflicts like the Cold War or the Yugoslav wars.

The miniseries Born by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson further examines Castle's roots, tracing them back to his third tour of the Vietnam War, where he undergoes a psychological and possibly supernatural transformation into the Punisher to survive a massive assault on his fortification by the combined forces of the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army. The one-shot Punisher: The Tyger, by Ennis and John Severin, went even further and showed that Castle had lived with murders, deaths and criminals from his childhood.

[edit] Punisher War Journal (vol. 2)

In November 2006, a new The Punisher War Journal series, written by Matt Fraction and penciled by Ariel Olivetti, was released. The first three issues of the book are set during Marvel's "Civil War" event. It involves Castle taking on supervillains rather than his traditional non-super-powered criminal antagonists. He has also made appearances in the main Civil War series (issues #5-7). Wearing both his traditional costume and his Marvel Knights/MAX attire, and a new costume designed to look like his costume and Captain America's combined, the series pitted the character against a series of super-powered foes while also being involved in crossover events such as "World War Hulk" and "Secret Invasion".

[edit] The Punisher and Punisher: Frank Castle

Marvel relaunched The Punisher War Journal in 2009 as simply Punisher, with a thematic link tied to the events of the "Dark Reign" storyline and, following the departure of writer Garth Ennis, retitled the Marvel MAX series (formerly Punisher MAX) as Punisher: Frank Castle MAX and, more recently, as Punisher: Frank Castle^[22] or Frank Castle: The Punisher^[23] (depending on the source); launching a new series called PunisherMAX by Jason Aaron and Steve Dillon.^[24] As part of his work on the character, Rick Remender wrote the one-shot title Dark Reign: The List - Punisher, which, as part of the "Dark Reign" storyline, shows the character dismembered and decapitated by Daken.^[25]

Following this, the main Punisher series was renamed FrankenCastle and featured a Castle who is resurrected by Morbius and the Legion of Monsters as a patchwork Frankenstein-like creature.^[26][27] He joins up with the Legion of Monsters to help protect the monsters of Monster Metropolis from the Hunter of Monster Special Force.^[28] At the conclusion of the series, the character was transformed back into a normal human.

[edit] Punisher: In the Blood

In 2010, a Punisher series was released titled Punisher: In the Blood. It is a five part series that is meant to take place after FrankenCastle. In this series, the Punisher faces the JigSaws once again.^[29]

Characterization[link]

The character has been described as being obsessed with vengeance;^[30] Garth Ennis noted that the character of the Punisher "sees the world in very black and white terms, he solves his problems with utter finality" and that "his response to any problem: when in doubt, hit back hard."^[31] The writer Steven Grant notes that:

Heidegger, who took Kierkegaard's philosophy further, comes even closer to describing the Punisher: 'Since we can never hope to understand why we're here, if there's even anything to understand, the individual should choose a goal and pursue it wholeheartedly, despite the certainty of death and the meaninglessness of action.' That's sure the Punisher as I conceived him: a man who knows he's going to die and who knows in the big picture his actions will count for nothing, but who pursues his course because this is what he has chosen to do.^[32]

Powers, weapons, and abilities[link]

Punisher is the recipient of multi-disciplinary military training from the U.S. Marine Corps. While a Marine, he also received training from the U.S. Army and Navy as well as cross-training with the Australian Special Air Service Regiment during the Vietnam War. In addition, since beginning his work as the Punisher, Castle has used his military discipline and training techniques to update and expand his skills in areas that aid in his mission (disguise, acting, use of non-military weapons, etc.). From this training, Punisher is proficient in not only basic infantry skills, but in special operations, which includes the use and maintenance of specialized firearms and explosive ordnance. He is highly trained in infiltration into heavily-guarded enemy territories and structures for the purpose of assassination, capture, and military intelligence. Also, he is trained in various forms of camouflage and stealth. He is also highly adept at hand-to-hand combat, and has been trained in multiple forms of martial arts.

Both Nick Fury and Tony Stark have commented on how extraordinarily high his pain tolerance is. He does not take even over-the-counter painkillers, as he feels that their benefit of dulling pain is not worth the side effects of drowsiness and slowed reflexes.^{[volume & issue needed]}

He maintains multiple safehouses and vehicles around the greater Manhattan area as well as multiple forged identities and bank accounts (most of the funds and equipment aiding him in his work being taken from the criminals he hunts).

The Punisher has a Kevlar uniform which protects him from most gunfire, though he can still suffer concussive injury or penetration from sufficient or repeated impacts. The bright white skull in his chest is used both to intimidate his enemies and to lure their fire to the more heavily protected area of his armor. The design was supposedly taken from a Vietcong sniper he fought against during the Vietnam War.

The Punisher has been using technology derived from super-villains and other costumed characters, such as the Green Goblin's pumpkin bombs,^[33] a modified Goblin Glider,^[34] and a Doctor Octopus tentacle that he can shrink down for easy storage via Pym Particles.

Reception[link]

This section requires expansion.

The Punisher was named the 19th Greatest Comic Book Character of All Time by movie magazine Empire, saying that he is the "grimmest and most compelling of characters" and praising the Punisher MAX series.^[35]

Supporting characters[link]

Despite wanting to work alone, the Punisher has a few supporting characters to help fight crime. Microchip assisted Castle by building and supplying weapons and technology and providing friendship. During the "Civil War", he was aided by Stuart Clarke for a short time. Various police officers and detectives have assisted the Punisher, most notably Lynn Michaels and Lt. Martin Soap. Lynn Michaels was a police officer who teamed up with Castle to take down a serial rapist and later quit the force to become a vigilante. Martin Soap was secretly allied with the Punisher and gave him information on his targets from the police database.

Other versions[link]

In other media[link]

The character of the Punisher has appeared in many types of media. Since his first appearance in 1974, he has appeared in television, movies, and video games — each on multiple occasions — and his name, symbol, and image have appeared on products and merchandise.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Punisher at the Marvel Universe wiki
• The Punisher at the Comic Book DB

Thomas Jane
Thomas Jane at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, January 23rd, 2010.
Born	Thomas Elliott III (1969-02-23) February 23, 1969 (age 43) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, Writer, Director, Producer
Years active	1986—present
Spouse	Aysha Hauer (1989-?) Patricia Arquette (m. 2006–2011) «start: (2006)–end+1: (2012)»"Marriage: Patricia Arquette to Thomas Jane" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Thomas_Jane)1 child
Website
thomasjane.com

Thomas Jane (born Thomas Elliott III;^[1] February 22, 1969) is an American actor known for his roles in the 1999 film Deep Blue Sea, the 2001 TV film 61*, the 2004 film The Punisher and the 2007 Stephen King adaptation The Mist. He also starred in the HBO comedy-drama series Hung.

Early life[link]

Jane was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Cynthia, an antiques dealer, and Michael Elliott, a biogenetic engineer.^[1][2] In 1987, he graduated from Thomas Sprigg Wootton High School in Montgomery County, Maryland.

At age 18, Jane relocated to Hollywood to pursue an acting career. He was initially homeless and lived out of his car.^[3] Regarding his time as a busker, Jane has noted "I had two songs in my repertoire that I hammered to death — 'Hey Joe' and 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door'....People used to pelt me with change just to shut me up."^[4]

Career[link]

Jane began his acting career with the Telugu film Padamati Sandhya Ragam (1986), directed by Jandhyala, a renowned filmmaker in Telugu Cinema. His early roles included Zeph in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992). He had supporting roles in several high profile films, including The Crow: City of Angels (1996), Boogie Nights (1997), The Thin Red Line (1998), Thursday (1998) and Magnolia (1999). After receiving critical acclaim as baseball player Mickey Mantle in 61*, Jane began receiving leading roles such as that of Andre Stander in the 2003 South African film, Stander for which he gained further critical acclaim.

Jane, director Jonathan Hensleigh and Avi Arad have said in many interviews that Jane was the first and only actor to be asked to play the title role in the 2004 movie The Punisher. Jane initially turned down the role twice, as he did not have much interest in the superhero genre. Jane said that when they asked him the second time to play the Punisher it was Tim Bradstreet's artwork of the Punisher that piqued his interest. After finding out that the character was not a traditional superhero, but more of an anti-hero and a vigilante crime fighter, he accepted.^[5][6] He read as many Punisher comics as he could find and quickly became a fan. Jane trained for 6 or 7 months with Navy SEALs and gained more than twenty pounds of muscle for the part.^[7]

In addition to starring in the movie he contributed his voice to The Punisher and the Gun video games. He also co-owns RAW, an entertainment company he runs along with Steve Niles and Tim Bradstreet. RAW Studios, the company's comic book division, has released Bad Planet (written by Jane) through Image Comics. Jane would become a spokesperson for Steve Niles and in became the cover model for comic book character Cal McDonald in 2006, as depicted by their partner Bradstreet.

In addition to his screen work, Jane has appeared several times on stage, and received strong critical reviews as Tom in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, and as Chris in Arthur Miller's All My Sons. He has also portrayed a fictionalized version himself in the Fox television show Arrested Development in which the show's characters have not heard of him, and do not recognize him as the star actor that he is. In 2005, Marvel released The Punisher video game. The video game's storyline is compiled with different situations and enemies from the Punisher comics, and a character based upon Jigsaw also appeared in the 2005 Punisher video game but with an origin that ties directly into the 2004 Punisher film.

Jane did not return in the planned sequel to The Punisher. Lions Gate Entertainment had approved a direct sequel to be made due to the strong performance the film had on DVD. However, the project lingered in development for over 3 years. Jonathan Hensleigh completed a first draft of the script before pulling out around 2006. John Dahl was in talks to direct the film, but pulled out, saying he did not like the script, and that the studio was not willing to spend enough money on the project.^[8] In a statement on May 15, 2007 and in two audio interviews, Thomas Jane said that he pulled out of the project because of creative differences, and the budget of the film being cut.^[9]

What I won't do is spend months of my life sweating over a movie that I just don't believe in. I've always loved the Marvel guys, and wish them well. Meanwhile, I'll continue to search for a film that one day might stand with all those films that the fans have asked me to watch.

—Thomas Jane, ^[10]

Jane said in June 2007 that movie director Zack Snyder had expressed interest in casting him for the role of 'The Comedian' for the adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novel Watchmen,^[11] but because he was too busy, he turned down the role.^[12]

In 2007, Jane's directing debut was the film Dark Country in which he also played the main character.^[13][14][15]

It was reported on February 8, 2008 that Thomas Jane had joined movie director John McTiernan in the action/thriller movie Run.^[16] Although Thomas Jane did not signed on to the film and due to McTiernan's civil suit the film has been put on hold. On May 27, 2008 it was reported that Thomas Jane and actor Ving Rhames had joined the cast in the action film Give ‘em Hell, Malone with writer Mark Hosack and director Russell Mulcahy.^[15][17][18]

On December 18, 2008, HBO announced it was picking up the dark comedy Hung, and Jane was contracted to star in the show. He plays the character of Ray Drecker, a high school history teacher and baseball coach, who, after attending a self help class while being down on his luck, decides to market the large size of his penis as a path to success.^[19] The series was renewed for a second season which aired in the summer of 2010.^[20]

It is unknown when, but Thomas Jane will develop a mini series for the Syfy (Sci Fi) Channel called Voyage to Savage Planet. He is also planning on doing a World War II action horror film called The Devil's Commandos.^[21][22]

Jane appeared on the June/July 2010 cover of Men's Fitness magazine.^[23] Thomas Jane voiced the character Jonah Hex in an animated short as a companion piece on the Special Edition Blu-Ray and 2-Disc Special Edition DVD release of Batman: Under the Red Hood.^[24]

He was set to play the role of a cop in Sylvester Stallone's hitman action pic 'Headshot,'^[25] but then he was deemed not "ethnic" enough and let go. In a recent interview with Collider he mentions an upcoming film project called 'The Lycan.' Thomas Jane describes this project as a gothic werewolf romance set in a castle in the 18th century.^[26]

Personal life[link]

Jane is divorced from actress Aysha Hauer, the daughter of actor Rutger Hauer. He and Aysha starred in a number of movies together, including a short, "Picture This" by director Sean Ramsay, who was a UCLA student at the time. He was engaged to Olivia d'Abo from 1998 to 2001.

After meeting through mutual friends in 2001, Jane and actress Patricia Arquette became engaged in 2002. Their daughter Harlow Olivia Calliope was born on February 20, 2003. Jane and Arquette subsequently married on June 25, 2006 at the Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo in Venice, Italy.

On March 17, 2008, Thomas Jane was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol for driving at "an extremely high rate of speed" on I-5. Jane was arrested for DUI with a blood alcohol level higher than .08% in Kern County, California. Jane failed several field sobriety tests, including a breathalyzer. Police also said he was driving with a suspended license.

In January 2009, Arquette filed for divorce from Jane on the grounds of irreconcilable differences,^[27] but the couple soon reconciled and Arquette requested to abandon the divorce petition on July 9, 2009.^[28] However, on August 13, 2010, Jane's representative announced that Jane and Arquette had decided to proceed with a divorce.^[29] The divorce was finalized on July 1, 2011. The pair was granted joint custody of their child.^[30]

Filmography[link]

Actor[link]

Director credits[link]

Producer credits[link]

Writer credits[link]

Awards[link]

• 1998 Won, FFCC Award Best for Ensemble Cast for Boogie Nights.
• 1998 Nominated, for Outstanding Performance by a Cast for Boogie Nights.
• 2010 Nominated, for a Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actor in a Musical or Comedy for Hung.
• 2011 Nominated, for a Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actor in a Musical or Comedy for Hung.
• 2012 Nominated, for a Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actor in a Musical or Comedy for Hung.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Thomas Jane

• Thomas Jane at the Internet Movie Database

Christian Bale
Bale in June 2009
Born	Christian Charles Philip Bale (1974-01-30) 30 January 1974 (age 38) Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire
Residence	Los Angeles, California
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1982–present
Spouse	Sandra Blažić (2000–present)
Children	1
Parents	David Bale, Jenny (née James) Bale
Family	Gloria Steinem (Step-Mother)

Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor.^[1] Best known for his roles in American films, Bale has starred in both big budget Hollywood films and the smaller projects from independent producers and art houses.

Bale first caught the public eye at the age of 13, when he was cast in the starring role of Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun (1987). He played an English boy who is separated from his parents and subsequently finds himself lost in a Japanese internment camp during World War II.^[2] He is also notable for his role as serial killer Patrick Bateman in American Psycho (2000), and for portraying Bruce Wayne/Batman in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) and the upcoming finale The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

In 2010, Bale portrayed Dicky Eklund in the biopic The Fighter. He received critical acclaim for his role and won several awards, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role.

Early life[link]

Bale was born in Wales to parents of English descent. His South African–born father, David Bale, was an entrepreneur, commercial pilot and talent manager, and his mother, Jenny (née James), was a circus performer.^[3][4][5][6] He spent his childhood in England, Portugal, and the United States.

Bale's first foray into acting was a commercial for the fabric softener Lenor in 1982.^[7] A year later, he appeared in a Pac-Man cereal commercial playing a child rock star. In 1984, he made his stage debut in The Nerd, opposite Rowan Atkinson.^[8]

Career[link]

1986–1998[link]

A 14-year-old Bale in Stockholm, Sweden in February 1988 while promoting Empire of the Sun

Bale made his film debut as Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia in the made-for-television film Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna in 1986, which was followed by leading roles in the miniseries Heart of the Country and the fantasy adventure Mio in the Land of Faraway, in which he appeared with Christopher Lee and Nick Pickard.

Bale's performance as Jim Graham in Empire of the Sun earned him widespread critical praise and the first ever "Best Performance by a Juvenile Actor" award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.^[9] The attention the press and his schoolmates lavished upon him after this took a toll on Bale, and he contemplated giving up acting until Kenneth Branagh approached him and persuaded him to appear in Henry V in 1989.^[9] In 1990, he played the role of Jim Hawkins opposite Charlton Heston (as Long John Silver) in Treasure Island, an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic book.

In 1992, Bale starred as Jack Kelly in the Disney musical Newsies, and followed it up in 1993 with another release, Swing Kids, a film about teenagers who secretly listened to forbidden jazz during the rise of Nazi Germany.^[10] Bale was recommended by actress Winona Ryder to star in Gillian Armstrong's 1994 film Little Women.^[9] Bale provided the voice for Thomas, a young compatriot of Captain John Smith, in Disney's Pocahontas (1995) and in 1997 played Arthur Stuart in Velvet Goldmine, Todd Haynes' tribute to glam rock.^[10] In 1999, Bale contributed to an all-star cast, including Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Stanley Tucci and Rupert Everett, portraying Demetrius in an updated version of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.^[10]

1999–2001[link]

In 1999, Bale played serial killer Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, director Mary Harron's adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' controversial novel. Bale was briefly dropped from the project in favour of Leonardo DiCaprio, but DiCaprio eventually dropped out to star in The Beach, and Bale was cast once again. He researched his character by studying the novel and prepared himself physically for the role by spending months tanning and exercising in order to achieve the "Olympian physique" of the character as described in the original novel.^[11] He went so far as to distance himself from the cast and crew to maintain the darker side of Bateman's character. American Psycho premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival to much controversy. Roger Ebert condemned the film at first, calling it pornography,^[12] and "the most loathed film at Sundance,"^[13] but gave it a favourable review, writing that Harron "transformed a novel about bloodlust into a film about men's vanity." Of Bale's performance, he wrote, "Christian Bale is heroic in the way he allows the character to leap joyfully into despicability; there is no instinct for self-preservation here, and that is one mark of a good actor."^[14]

On 14 April 2000, Lions Gate Films released American Psycho in cinemas. Bale was later approached to make a cameo appearance in another Bret Easton Ellis adaptation, The Rules of Attraction, a film loosely connected to American Psycho, but he declined out of loyalty to Harron's vision of Bateman, which he felt could not be properly expressed by anyone else.^[15] In 2000, he again played a wealthy murderer, this time in John Singleton's Shaft.

Bale has played an assortment of diverse characters since 2001. His first role after American Psycho was in the John Madden adaptation of the best-selling novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin. Bale played Mandras, a Greek fisherman who vied with Nicolas Cage's title character for the affections of Pelagia (Penelope Cruz). Captain Corelli's Mandolin was Bale's second time working with John Hurt, after All the Little Animals.

2002–2004[link]

From 2002 to 2003, Bale starred in three feature films. Laurel Canyon (2002) was generally well received by critics.^[16] This film also marked the second time he worked with actress Kate Beckinsale, his costar in Prince of Jutland (1994). Critics generally focused on star Frances McDormand's performance over the rest of the cast, however.^[17]