Serious comic book nerds will either already know or be totally freaked out by the fact that Rebecca Romijn played Joan in the 2004 "Punisher" movie at the same time she was playing Mystique in the first three "X-Men" movies.

Even the most observant of fans can be forgiven for not knowing, though, since she was covered in blue body paint for her entire run in the "X-Men" films.

She wasn't made up in "The Punisher," though. In that one, which was released in between the second and third "X-Men" sequels, she looked pretty normal, playing the damaged but nurturing young neighbor of Frank Castle, alias The Punisher. The two end up helping each other, and, in the process, she helps Castle to love again, as the romantics say.

This was a challenge, of course, because Castle's whole reason for becoming The Punisher, a gun-draped vigilante who takes on the entire criminal underworld single-handedly, was because his family was killed before his eyes. That's tough to come back from.

Romijn is not the only acting link between the two comic book movie franchises: In "The Punisher," her roommate was played by Ben Foster, who would appear in the third "X-Men" movie as well, as Angel.

"The Punisher" and "X-Men" are both comic book series produced by Marvel Comics, however the film franchises are owned by different studios.

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