A couple days ago, the site/blog Film School Rejects posted an image of actor (and noted comic fan) Thomas Jane in what appeared to be the costume and ruined face of DC Comics’ Old West antihero JONAH HEX. The photo was presented with the convenient caveat that FSR had no idea of the photo’s origin beyond the always-cagey “extremely reliable source”, but — as is often the case — that didn’t stop countless other sites from disseminating the Dugg rumor without any sort of verification.
Eventually, STYD caught word from writer-director Mark Neveldine himself that he’d never seen the photo (Neveldine and fellow CRANK lunatic/mastermind Brian Taylor are behind the JONAH HEX movie), and IGN heard from Jane’s agent at WMA that there was “no truth” to the rumor.
But wait — in a rare case of near-truth on the internets, it turned out that the picture was not merely the Photoshopped work of a zealous fanboy, but the effort of Jane himself campaigning to Warner Bros. for the part. This evidence of his amateur makeup test then “somehow” found its way online (more cynical minds might consider that the pic was purposely “leaked” to throw Jane’s name into the pot and gauge reaction among the vocal online fan community). At least he looks the part, but could he wash away the PUNISHER aftertaste?
The comic character of JONAH HEX is a horrifically scarred Civil War veteran (often illustrated with resemblance to Clint Eastwood’s famous outlaws) and has seen numerous incarnations over his decades in print — aside from standard Western tales, he’s been tossed into post-apocalyptic times and had various supernatural experiences. Neveldine/Taylor plan to make their HEX film some time after CRANK 2 is all done.
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