Mark Wahlberg’s new movie Play Dirty is his chance to return to action, comedy, and thrillers once more. Directed by Shane Black, the 2025 movie looks to showcase the leading man skills that have made Wahlberg one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. In doing so, he’s put himself in direct compeтιтion with megastars like Jason Statham and Mel Gibson.

Play Dirty‘s trailer proved it has all the makings to be another great Shane Black movie, with the buddy dynamic between Wahlberg and LaKeith Stanfield present, quippy dialogue, and well-executed action sequences. At first glance, most might think that this is also an original concept from the writer/director behind praised movies like The Nice Guys and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Yet, the project is actually an adaptation of the popular “Parker” book series, created by Donald E. Westlake. Wahlberg plays the тιтular Parker in Play Dirty, and he looks to be a rather strong casting choice. By taking on the role in this film, which debuts on Prime Video on October 1, the actor hopes to cement his spot as the best interpretation to date.

Play Dirty Is Mark Wahlberg’s Chance To Beat Statham, Gibson & Others As The Best Parker Adaptation

Hollywood has a long history of adapting Westlake’s Parker character in film. Play Dirty is the seventh movie utilizing this source material and main character, with the first coming all the way back in 1967 with Point Blank, which came out just five years after the first book. Since then, we’ve gotten The Split (1968), The Outfit (1973), Slayground (1983), Payback (1999), Parker (2013), and now Play Dirty.

Thanks to the strong characterization of Parker in the books, the role has attracted several high-profile stars before Wahlberg. Lee Marvin was the first to play the character in Point Blank, with Jim Brown, Robert Duvall, Peter Coyote, Mel Gibson, and Jason Statham following in his footsteps in each of the subsequent films.

Each of those actors put their own stamp on the role, but none of them managed to have considerable success in the role. Point Blank remains the best-received movie using this IP, with Marvin arguably the lead who garnered the most praise for his portrayal. While Gibson and Statham are big stars, neither made playing Parker a role they’d be remembered for.

Gibson’s turn was a box office hit, making $161 million worldwide. Yet, it was saddled by creative differences between the studio and director, leading to major reshoots and a new edit, which still led to a negative response. The actor received some favorable responses for his performance, but it’s still not one of his most iconic roles.

Statham’s experience was very different. Parker bombed at the box office, making only $46 million, and he divided critics. He got aspects of Parker’s personality down, but the safe and familiar action sequences were a letdown. Thus, there was no chance for Parker 2 to happen as desired.

Play Dirty could solidify Wahlberg as a much better version of Parker than Statham or Gibson, possibly even allowing him to go down as the best interpretation in the last 50 years. This will really come down to how well the actor works in Black’s movie. With the movie releasing in a few days, we’ll know soon enough how Wahlberg stacks up.