Ray Stevenson, Actor in ‘Punisher: War Zone,’ ‘RRR’ and ‘Thor’ Films, Dies at 58

Ray Stevenson, the Irish actor who starred in films like Punisher: War Zone, King Arthur, the Thor films and shows like HBOs Rome and the upcoming Ahsoka series, died on Sunday in Italy, Variety has confirmed with his publicist. He was 58.

No cause of death was available.

Born in Northern Ireland on May 25, 1964, 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 came in Antoine Fuquas 2004s 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 2004s 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 Netflixs Daredevil and The Punisher shows.

In the 2010s, Stevenson appeared in action movies like The Book of Eli, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, The Three Musketeers and franchises like Marvels Thor and Lionsgates Divergent adaptation. In his second Marvel outing, Stevenson played the Asgardian hero Volstagg, one of the Warriors Three who were allies to Chris Hemsworths Thor. He apeared in the first three Thor movies before being struck down by Cate Blanchetts villain Hela in Thor: Ragnarok. In the Divergent series, Stevenson played Marcus Eaton, the city council leader of the Abnegation faction and father of Four (Theo James).

Recently, Stevenson appeared in the Oscar-nominated Tollywood blockbuster RRR as the evil Governor Scott Buxton. He will also appear in this summers Disney+ Star Wars series Ahsoka as a Jedi named Baylan Skoll, who turns to the dark side and is an ally to the diabolic Grand Admiral Thrawn. He previously voiced the character Gar Saxon in Star Wars Rebels and Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

On the TV side, Stevenson starred in the HBO historical drama Rome as Titus Pullo from 2005-07. He played a Roman soldier, opposite Kevin McKidd as Lucius Vorenus, who witnessed several key historical events as the Roman Empire began. The show picked up seven Emmys during its two seasons.

Stevenson also played Ukrainian mobster Isaak Sirko on Season 7 of Showtimes Dexter, Blackbeard on Starz Black Sails pirate series and the sailer Othere on Vikings Season 6.

In addition to Ahsoka, Stevensons posthumous credits will include the films 1242: Gateway to the West and Cassino in Ischia.