Anti-Hero Profile: The Punisher

If you see this, it's just best to put the gun down and pray he
goes for the headshot.

This next post is dedicated to the first guy to make a request, my good friend James D. Schramel, and to my little brother, Matthew, the biggest Punisher fan I know.

Frank Castle has had a very crappy life. He was a decorated Marine Captain, with several medals for heroism and bravery, along with four Purple Hearts. He had a loving wife and two children, and everything was all around okay for his life. Until he took leave and went on a picnic with his family in Central Park. The lovely picnic spot they chose was unfortunately within spitting distance of a Mob hit. The Mobsters, seeing the Castle Family, murdered the non-combat oriented Castles, leaving Frank a broken man. He went AWOL and fell off the radar for several month. A short time later he resurfaced as the Punisher, a vigilante one man army devoted to eradicating organized crime and all other aspects of the criminal element in the world. New York is a good place to start.

One of only a handful of times that Castle
didn't take out his target.

His first big job was actually an elaborate ruse. He was tricked by the evil Geneticist the Jackal into hunting down Spider-man. After clashing with the Web-Head a few times, Castle came to understand that Spidey was a force for good. He decided to kill the Jackal instead. Over the years Castle has hunted many of the worst beings Man-kind created. During the Super Hero Civil War, rather than taking a side, Castle chose to hunt criminals be they on the Government’s side or not. It was during this tumultuous time that he set his sights on the worst and most powerful criminal scum bag he’s ever come across, Norman Osborn, AKA the Green Goblin. He was killed by one of Gobby’s top enforces, Daken, brought back to life as a new age Frankenstein (Called Frankencastle, how original) before finding a way to completely revive himself. There you go, Death himself can’t keep Castle down.

When it comes to weapons, if it exists Castle owns it, mastered it, and probably found two new ways to kill people with it. Handguns, rifles, shotguns, machine guns, knives, RPGs, grenades, broken bottles, and his armor reinforced Battle Van are just a few of the death machines he’s worked with. He’s undergone advanced training in just about any field that involves killing people. If your average marine is a finely honed killing machine, Castle is WMD. Another important piece of equipment is his signature White Skull on his costume, which draws enemy fire to his heavily protected and armor reinforced chest than his head.

Six goons, he has only one bullet,
still not fair to the six goons.

The most interesting aspect of the Punisher, though, is his moral code of honor. Frank Castle will kill anyone he deems as a criminal, without blinking, without mercy, without a second thought. But, it gets more complicated with non-criminals. If you fight for truth, justice, the American Way, the little guy, someone you love, or anyone not in a well-tailored suit who deals in causing misery, Castle will defend you to his last breath. During the Civil War he found himself up against an angry Captain America. While Castle could potentially go toe to toe with one of the greatest heroes of the Marvel-verse, he instead took a beating from Capt. He’d drop a bomb on a prison if could, but he’d rather die than even risk injuring a man like Captain America. That’s a complex man right there.

Due to the…graphic and final nature of the Punsiher’s interactions with bad people, he’s really been limited in his appearances outside comics. Aside from the odd cameo and short guest spot, he hasn’t been in much. He has an animated Team-up movie with fellow black dressed hero Black Widow. I haven’t seen it, but it looks decent. Also, add Nick Fury to that team and I think they could take care of the North Korea problem.

He’s had three very different live action adaptations. I’ve seen two. I’ll go over both movies in more detail in later posts, but I’ll give a brief summary of the overall tone. Thomas Jane’s Punisher (2004), could be characterized as Frank the Sniper. He’s cold, calculating, and two steps ahead of his enemies after his family’s death. Ray Stevenson’s Punisher from Punisher: Warzone (2008), could be characterized as Frank the Assault Rifle. He blows away anyone and everyone that stands in his way. He kills a Parkour enthusiast villain mid-flip with a rocket. A ROCKET!

A man after my own Heart.

Anything else you want to add Deadpool.

No… I just can’t bring myself to make a crack about the single greatest killer the world has ever seen.

Better than Wolverine?

Yes, because he doesn’t whine about kill afterwards. Now leave me, I must bask in the light of Frank Castle.

Jane'll shoot ya. Stevenson will nuke ya.
Don't mess with the Irish.

Okay, I’ll leave you to your…basking. There is also a short film dedicated to the Punisher called Dirty Laundry. It was an independently financed film with Jane reprising the role. Essentially we just get to see the Punisher take on four or five gangbangers with just a bottle of bourbon. To say the fight was one sided is an understatement. Those poor bastards didn’t stand a chance.

I like the Punisher since he is the quintessential anti-hero. What he does is messy, destructive and borderline evil in and of itself, and yet, there are those terrible people in the world that just need to be put down before they hurt anyone else. And where heroes like Batman brood and thrive on fear, Castle couldn’t care less what you think about him. If you are a criminal, you die. Doesn’t matter if you stand against him defiantly, or go out in soiled pants, Punisher + criminal = criminal’s corpse. He does it because he feels he has to. He does it so that no one ever has to go through the same pain he’s had to endure. He doesn’t get Vengeance. He doesn’t seek Justice. He causes Punishment.

It’s been suggested by the writer and director of Captain America 2, that in their minds at least, the Punisher has made his subtle debut in their movie. There was a Penske truck that twice saved Capt. and co that, according to the Director had Frank Castle behind the wheel. Not sure if it will be canon, but good to see someone is trying to bring the most destructive human back to the big screen. Next time, October 1, we start Flash week! Which, I promise, will actually be seven days’ worth of Flash related content before Barry Allen’s return to television. 

How awesome is Castle? Actual Soldiers have adopted
his insignia as their own. That's how awesome Castle is.

http://www.comicvine.com/forums/battles-7/rorschachkiller-crocvsthe-punisherkick-ass-615989/

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punisher

 http://s294.photobucket.com/user/Punisher013/media/Punisher%20Pics/punisher-thomas-jane.jpg.html
 http://www.craveonline.com/tv/articles/187355-ray-stevenson-joins-dexter-season-7

 http://www.layoutsparks.com/pictures/punisher-skull-0