Punisher

Frank Castle in Punisher v12 #1.

The Punisher is a male comic antihero that features in Marvel Comics.

Biography

Origin

The Punisher in Amazing Spider-Man v1 #129.

Frank Castle

The Punisher

In time, his reputation grew where people came to hear about the vigilante's war against the mob. Around this time, he was approached by the Jackal who claimed that New York City was suffering under the tyranny of the criminal Spider-Man. The Jackal convinced the Punisher that they were working for a similar goal of destroying crime in the city where they worked together to eliminate the Wall-Crawler. This led to the Punisher staging an attack from a rooftop in order to draw Spider-Man into a trap but his foe managing to easily break free from his restraints. Underestimating Spider-Man, the Punisher was nearly defeated until the Jackal struck at the Wall-Crawler from behind though the quarry managed to escape. Despite the Jackal's aid, the Punisher disagreed with his methods as he did not feel it was just and later left to replace his equipment. He came to find his supplier who had been a friend to be killed with Spider-Man at the scene. The Punisher blamed the Wall-Crawler where the two fought only for Spider-Man to defeat him. The hero then revealed that the murder was made by the Jackal who did it to frame the Punisher to get him arrested by the authorities. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #129)

Dark Reign

Soon after, Osborn dispatched Daken and dozens of H.A.M.M.E.R. agents to kill Frank. When Frank and Daken fought, the agents shot Frank in the leg and Daken sliced Frank to pieces. Those pieces were then recovered by the Moloids and the Man-Thing. (Dark Reign: The List - Punisher v1 #1)

Franken-Castle

After his death at the hands of Daken, Castle was resurrected by Morbius and the Legion of Monsters as a patchwork Frankenstein-like creature to help them against a group of Samurai-like men lead by the mysterious monster hunter Hellsgaard, who killed monsters for 'not being of God'. At first Frank refused to help them out and disappeared into the sewers. The Living Mummy later tried to reason with him and showed him Wolfman's armory. (Punisher v8 #11)

The Exchange

Castle later came to learn of a mass shooting at a wedding that killed nearly 30 people that left the bride Rachel Cole-Alves the only survivor. (Punisher v9 #1)

Back in action, Frank journeyed to upstate New York on a mission to kill multiple Exchange managers. There, he encountered Rachel Cole-Alves, who was using her Marine background to get revenge on the Exchange. Since they both wanted the same thing, the two began to work together. (Punisher v9 #6)

Eventually, Frank learned that Daredevil was in possession of the Omega Drive, a data drive made of Unstable Molecules containing information on multiple crime organizations, which Frank wanted for himself. Daredevil refused to hand it over to him, but Frank agreed to help him destroy it since it meant he could spend the night fighting crime. However, Rachel wanted the drive to help her get revenge on the Exchange and stole it off of Daredevil before he could destroy it. It took some convincing from Daredevil to get her to return it. Rachel then fled the scene. (Punisher v9 #10)

Angry that she has let her emotions dictate her actions, Frank confronts her and has her prove her loyalty to the mission by making her burn her wedding photo. With a renewed sense of focus, the duo made their move against the Exchange. Rachel confronted Stephanie Gerard, the leader of the Exchange, in her heavily protected office while Frank shot his way in through the window using bullets tipped with Adamantium to destroy the bulletproof glass. The confusion gave Rachel the chance to kill Gerard with a garrote, but Gerard's partner Christian Poulsen, who harbored an unrequited love for her, reacted violently, slaying everyone in the building, innocent or not. (Punisher v9 #14)

Thunderbolts

Whilst on a mission, he came to be captured when he was approached by Thunderbolt Ross who wanted to recruit Castle onto a team. This would consist of people who had no issue with killing and were to be deployed to eliminate dangerous threats in the world with the Punisher agreeing to his terms. (Thunderbolts v2 #1)

Frank later attempted to snipe a criminal by the name of Sergey Antonov but it was foiled by the presence of Matthew Murdoch. When he attempted to pursue the police escort, he came to be opposed by both Daredevil and Blindspot. (Daredevil/Punisher: Seventh Circle Infinite Comic v1 #1)

Punisher: War Machine

War Machine in Punisher v2 #218.

When the United States was taken over by Hydra, the terrorist organization's newest Hydra Supreme, a fascist Captain America from another timeline who had secretly supplanted the real one, took advantage of Frank's idolization for the real Steve Rogers to persuade him into joining their cause, offering him all the resources he could need to wage his war against crime. Furthermore, Captain America disclosed to the Punisher about Hydra's plan to use a Cosmic Cube to change reality, which entailed the possibility of Frank seeing his family again. (Secret Empire v1 #7) In the aftermath of the regime's fall, Frank realized that he had been manipulated, and set out to wage war against Hydra's remaining forces in order to atone for his mistake. (Secret Empire Omega v1 #1)

He was later in Brooklyn dealing with criminals selling arms when he was approached by Nick Fury, Jr. who wanted Castle's help for a mission. This involved the failed state of the Democratic Republic of Chernaya where a general had taken over the country following a military coup. After S.H.I.E.L.D. was disbanded, its personnel in Chernaya decided to sell their services and equipment to General Armand Petrov who had taken over the country. With his resources limited, Fury wanted Castle's help to neutralise this threat and decided to provide him special equipment for this task. This led to Frank breaking into a U.S. Air Force base in order to steal the War Machine armor from the site that was to be used for the mission though Castle had no intention of returning it. (Punisher v2 #218)

Frank's use of the War Machine Armor did not go unnoticed, and he was quickly targeted by the superhuman community when he returned to America. (Punisher v2 #224) In this time, Castle was on the run from the various superheroes hunting him. (Punisher v2 #225) Frank went after Baron Zemo. He was overpowered by Hydra's forces, but Black Widow and Winter Soldier helped him on Fury's behalf. (Punisher v2 #226) With their help, Frank intercepted Hydra's attempt to break out the fascist Steve Rogers out of the Shadow Pillar. In the middle of the breakout, Frank was once again confronted by members of the superhuman community, including Iron Man. (Punisher v2 #227) In the end, Jim Rhodes, the former owner of the War Machine Armor, stepped in and convinced Frank to hand over the suit. Frank was taken into custody, but he was broken out by Black Widow and the Winter Soldier. (Punisher v2 #228)

After the Ghost double-crossed Zemo and killed him, Punisher was seemingly killed by Black Widow when she tried to get him to stand down. She blasted him, causing him to fall off Fisk Towers' top floor. The Winter Soldier, who had come along with other heroes to stop Frank, announced that no one could survive that fall, and that the Punisher was dead. However, after sorting through all the corpses of Hydra soldiers at the bottom, Frank's corpse wasn't found. There were burns and tire marks on the side of the tower, implying that Ghost Rider had saved him. This was seemingly confirmed when an unknown assailant attacked and destroyed a Hydra recruitment camp by himself. (Punisher v12 #16)

King of Killers

High Slayer of the Hand in Punisher v13 #1.

One day, he came to be attacked at his home by the Hand with numerous ninjas looking to kill him. Despite their numbers, he was able to defeat them all whereupon he was approached by their Archpriestess. She revealed that the attack was simply a test and that he had passed where he was informed that the Hand had looked to make Frank Castle their new High Slayer and leader. At first, he refused but the Hand had used their magic to revive Castle's deceased wife Maria where the couple were to be reunited in exchange for Frank taking on the position. With the cult's resources, he looked to eliminate crime globally an targeted criminals and their organizations on a global scale. Among his targets were the Apostles of War who were looking to steal high-tech weapons for their cause in Greece. (Punisher v13 #1)

When Castle learned from his assistant the Archpriestess that Hand members had their families killed as punishment for surviving a battle with Ares and his Apostles of War, Castle became enraged and killed the Archpriestess. He then fled the Hand compound with Maria, though the Hand made no attempt to stop him. However, Castle was forced to return when Maria began dying. He was greeted by a resurrected Archpriestess who told him that Maria's resurrection was incomplete and required constant treatment to keep her alive. Castle chose to remain the Hand so Maria could remain alive. After threatening the Hand, Castle left to fight Ares alone. (Punisher v13 #5) Despite using an arsenal of advanced weapons and the power provided by the Beast, Castle could not defeat Ares and was brutally beaten to death by the God of War. Castle was left for dead by Ares and was recovered by the Hand. Castle woke up in the Hand compound and discovered his injuries had been mostly healed. The Headmistress told him that the power of the Beast enabled him to heal. Castle then went to see his children who the Hand were trying to resurrect, but the children had been dead for so long that the Hand's resurrection attempts kept failing and leaving the children deformed. Castle eventually decided to end the resurrection attempts and mercy-killed his children. After going outside to puke from what he did, Castle was confronted by Daredevil for joining the Hand. (Punisher v13 #6)

Overview

Personality and attributes

It was said that Frank had his father's face. (Punisher War Journal v1 #25) At one point, he was admitted into Ravencroft where he was given the designation of Prisoner 616. (Ravencroft v1 #3) As leader of the Hand, he came to be known as the King of All Killers. (Punisher v13 #1)

He considered himself to be a warrior fighting in a lonely war. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #129)

Some claimed that he liked death and joyful revenge though the Punisher said he only killed those he deserved it. The Punisher was said to not make deals with murderers. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #129)

His father came from a village in Sicily with Frank always wanting to go there. The man never spoke about his family with Frank except to tell his son that they came from the village of Brasery. Over there, he had a brother and two sisters along with a successful fishing business which he abandoned as he quickly moved to America. His father never spoke about the circumstances that led to his quick from Italy. (Punisher War Journal v1 #25)

It was said that the Castigilones were fishermen in Brasery. (Punisher War Journal v1 #25)

Powers and abilities

Wearing War Machine armor in Punisher v2 #219.

Among the martial arts he knew included Systema, Jiu Jutsu, Muay Thai, and Krav Maga. (Punisher vs. Deadpool v1 #3)

He had said that he had spent 3 years in the United States Marine Corps. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #129) During the Siancong War, he was noted to had a Bronze Star, Silver Star, and four Purple Hearts. (History of the Marvel Universe v2 #2)

Though possessing no powers, Nick Fury's intel classified him as being power level 6 or greater due to his fighting skills, his weaponry, and his use of lethal force. (Secret War: From the Files of Nick Fury v1 #1)

He possessed a wide arsenal of equipment ranging from concussion rifles to guns that fired titanium alloy wires where he was familiar in their use. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #129)

Typically, he was shown to stash his weapons in key locations so he could make use of them quickly and helped in him staging ambushes for his enemies. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #129)

Castle was shown to maintain a War Journal that was a audio-log of his activities with different entries on his various activities. (Giant-Size Spider-Man v1 #4)

For his operations, he made use of a combat van that served as a mobile base of operations and to house equipment when he was out in the field. (Giant-Size Spider-Man v1 #4)

To fight the Reavers, Microchop came to help create an exo-skeleton battle armor for Frank to use against his cybernetic opponents. (Punisher v2 #34)

Frank once came to be equipped with a Venomech System designed by Stuart Clarke that engulfed the wearer in a full-body, high-impact Synthiote of liquid smart-armor. It was capable of augmenting the bearer's strength equivalent to that of robotic exoskeleton. However, it was not perpetually replenishing like a true Symbiote meaning that every hit it took led to the suit losing integrity. The Venomech suit was also customisable allowing its surface to take certain shapes such as the Punisher skull on the face and chest. (Punisher War Journal v2 #12)

At one point, he to steal a set of War Machine armor that was confiscated by the U.S. Army after the disbanding of S.H.I.E.L.D. With it, he began to use the advanced suit of armor to fight crime. (Punisher v2 #219)

The first of these gifts were the Eyes of the Beast that granted him a form of clairvoyance. The user was able to see the evil things done by a person as well as the evil things he had yet to do. (Punisher v13 #2) Afterwards, he gained the second gift which was the Fires of the Beast allowing him to unleash demonic flames able to kill a person. (Punisher v13 #4) The Marrow of the Beast was a demonic power that enhanced Castle's strength to the point where he was able to match the strength of the god Ares and even harm with the force of his blows. (Punisher v13 #6)

He was once chosen to become the leader of the ninja cult known as the Hand where he was appointed their new High Slayer. (Punisher v13 #1)

Notes

• The Punisher was created by Gerry Conway, John Romita Sr., and Ross Andru where he made his first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man v1 #129 (February, 1974).
• In Comics Interview v1 #75 (1985), Conway wrote how the character was inspired by The Executioner, a popular book series created by author Don Pendleton, in which a Vietnam veteran, Mack Bolan, becomes a serial killer of criminals after the Mafia-related deaths of his family with him saying in an interview, ""I was fascinated by the Don Pendleton Executioner character, which was fairly popular at the time, and I wanted to do something that was inspired by that, although not to my mind a copy of it. And while I was doing the Jackal storyline, the opportunity came for a character who would be used by the Jackal to make Spider-Man's life miserable. The Punisher seemed to fit."
• In Alter Ego. 3 (104): 32 (2011), Stan Lee who was Marvel's editor-in-chief recalled in 2005 that he had suggested the character's name: "Gerry Conway was writing a script and he wanted a character that would turn out to be a hero later on, and he came up with the name the Assassin. And I mentioned that I didn't think we could ever have a comic book where the hero would be called the Assassin, because there's just too much of a negative connotation to that word. And I remembered that, some time ago, I had had a relatively unimportant character ... [who] was one of [the cosmic antagonist] Galactus' robots, and I had called him the Punisher, and it seemed to me that that was a good name for the character Gerry wanted to write—so I said, 'Why not call him the Punisher?' And, since I was the editor [sic; Lee had been named publisher in 1972], Gerry said, 'Okay.'"

Alternate Versions

• In Spider-Gwen v1 #1 (2015), an alternate version of Frank Castle was shown to be an inhabitant of Earth-65. He was shown to had been a former soldier who came to work for a PMC before joining the NYPD where his reputation for treating criminals like enemy soldiers led to him being known as 'the Punisher'. Captain Frank Castle came to replace George Stacy as head of the Special Crimes Task Force.
• In Thanos v2 #13 (2018), an alternate version of Frank Castle was shown in a possible future reality designated as Earth-TRN666.

In other media

Television

• In Spider-Man, the Punisher appeared in the 1990s animated television series where he was voiced by actor John Beck.
• In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Punisher made multiple appearances in the shared continuity setting:
  • In Daredevil, Frank Castle made his first appearance in the live-action Netflix television series second season where he was voiced actor Jon Bernthal.
  • In The Punisher, Frank Castle featured in the live-action Netflix television series where he was once again portrayed by actor Jon Bernthal.

Films

• In The Punisher, the Punisher appeared in the setting of the 1989 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Dolph Lundgren.
• In Iron Man: Rise of Technovore, the Punisher appeared in the setting of the anime film where he was voiced by actor Norman Reedus.
• In Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher, Frank Castle appeared in the 2014 animated film where he was voiced by actor Brian Bloom.

Video games

• In Marvel Heroes, the Punisher appeared as a playable character in the MMORPG video game where he was voiced by actor Marc Worden.
• In Marvel: Contest of Champions, the Punisher appeared as an unlockable character in the setting of the mobile video game.
• In Marvel Future Fight, the Punisher appeared as an unlockable character in the setting of the mobile video game.
• In Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, the Punisher became a playable character available through the "Marvel Knights: Curse of the Vampire" DLC where he was voiced again by actor Brian Bloom.

Appearances

• Amazing Spider-Man v1: (1974)
• Punisher v1:
• Punisher War Journal v1:
• Thunderbolts v2:
• Original Sin v1:
• Ravencroft v1:
• Punisher v13: (2022)

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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