Ray Stevenson, the Irish actor who starred in films like “Punisher: War Zone,” “King Arthur,” the “Thor” films and the upcoming “Ahsoka” series,” died on Sunday, Variety has confirmed with his publicist. He was 58.
No information or cause of death was available.
Stevenson began his career appearing on TV shows in the 1990s then began landing action roles in Hollywood films starting in the 2000s. His first major film role cam in Antoine Fuqua’s 2004’s adventure movie “King Arthur,” where he played Dagonet, one of the Knights of the Round Table. In the film, his character sacrifices himself in battle to help Arthur (Clive Owen) and his brotherhood of warriors.
In 2008, Stevenson landed a starring role in the Marvel film, “Punisher: War Zone,” where he played the titular mercenary, aka Frank Castle. The film was distributed by Lionsgate in North America, before Disney acquired the rights to the Marvel universe and later re-introduced the character in the Netflix series “Daredevil.” Stevenson was the third actor to portray the Punisher on screen. Dolph Lundgren first played the vigilante in a straight-to-video release in 1989, followed by Thomas Jane in 2004’s R-rated “Punisher.” “War Zone” was a PG-13 reboot of the series, but it fizzled at the box office after earning $10.1 million from a $35 million budget. Jon Bernthal later took up the mantle in Netflix’s “Daredevil” and “The Punisher” shows.
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