Superhero Media: Avengers Confidential - Black Widow Punisher

To my knowledge, there are a few of these Marvel/Japanese collab films that follow in a series, but whilst I think I saw one years ago, the only one I can speak to with any accuracy is Avengers Confidential - Black Widow Punisher. As much as I'm finding anime tropes to more and more grating as I absorb more of the media, Avengers Confidential doesn't do too many, so I found myself more able to cope. Keep in mind, I'm not saying that I don't like anime in general, just that some of the common conventions don't sit well with me, personally. Frank Castle is up to his usual tricks when he spoils a SHIELD operation, and is picked up by Black Widow and Nick Fury, rather than be arrested, Frank is offered the chance to work with Widow and uncover who the bad guys really are. After a few fun fights, the real villains are revealed, Leviathan, aided by one of Natasha's former lovers. Just not one of the ones you know.

The fights are well constructed, although Frank punches and kicks people a lot more than you'd expect, and each character moves and fights very differently, especially when more heroes turn up in the third act. I'm not sure how I feel about The Punisher being able to keep pace with Black Widow in a fistfight, Frank is famously adverse to anything too up-close, though a scene where Widow and Amadeus Cho are trying to deprogram Frank as he tears through a room of SHIELD Agents is pretty neat to see. On the topic, how is Amadeus Cho not part of the MCU already? Forgetting the Totally Awesome Hulk for a minute, just as a side character, he's a lot of fun and has a pet coyote. Of course, in Avengers Confidential he's constantly trying to get a "kiss" from Natasha, but you need good non-superhero supporting cast members, and there seems like there's a lot of potential there.

Despite Leviathan being the villain, the major ploy turns out to be selling super-soliders made with a mix of Hulk and Thor's blood (don't think about it too hard) and the team ends up in Madripoor, in an awesome shanty town that I'll be ripping off for my cyberpunk table, fighting Leviathan and several supervillains. The Avengers (Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, War Machine and Captain Marvel) turn up and some cool redesigns of Gravitron, Baron Zemo, Griffon, Grim Reaper and Taskmaster get in on a big fight that culminates with Frank stabbing Orion through his weird eye thing that I'm pretty sure was just part of his helmet in the comics. Avengers Confidential is a fun ride with a lot to enjoy, but it doesn't rewrite anything major or provide a bold new take on the characters for the die-hard fan to unpack. Given some of the other stuff I've been watching, this was a nice break and a good way to spend an hour and a bit while building miniatures.