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There are some things about The Punisher that everyone gets wrong. On the surface, Frank Castle is mistaken for being something of a straightforward character. On paper, he’s nothing more than a war vet with severe PTSD who copes with losing his wife and kids to crime by punishing criminals.
Those who actively read and have read The Punisher’s works know there’s more to Frank Castle than meets the eye. There are some rumors, myths, and straight-up lies about The Punisher that constantly get spread about him due to both misconceptions and misinformation. All it takes is reading just one of his books to change everything someone understands about The Punisher. In fairness, a lot has changed about Frank since his first appearance, and some changes no longer apply. However, certain misgivings have never been true about The Punisher.
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It Shouldn’t Be Surprising That The Punisher Rejects Police
The Punisher Is Less a Fan of the Police’s Morale Code Than of Superheroes
Let’s make one thing clear: The Punisher doesn’t completely hate cops. Not all of them, at least. He certainly hates cops who support him, and he might even work individually with an honest cop. He likes the idea of good law enforcement, but when it comes to the idea of the police force at large, Frank Castle tends not to get along with most officers. Frank tends to be highly critical of the police uniform as a whole. He rejects it, as well as the very notion of being a cop, because he finds the system broken beyond repair.
More than anything, The Punisher considers the police to be ineffective at best and corrupt at worst. The Punisher believes that the justice system failed him and his family. He holds the judicial system accountable for their deaths, and police as well. Corrupt police abusing their power is unforgivable to Frank.
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Neither The Punisher Nor His Stories Exist to Glorify Violence
The Intent is Just the Opposite
Anyone carrying The Punisher name is viewed as being nothing more than an edgelord and his stories are viewed as satisfying an edgelord’s fantasy. While tales featuring The Punisher may have drawn a questionable fanbase who achieves catharsis whenever Frank inflicts violence, that’s not indicative of the creators or the intent with which they were created. Creators like Garth Ennis, Greg Rucka, and Jason Aaron are some examples of those who understand what The Punisher is supposed to symbolize.
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Almost 20 Years Later, I’m Starting to Think the Punisher Is the Next Captain America
Punisher and Captain America may seem like polar opposites, but they’re actually two sides of the same coin, making Frank Castle the new Steve Rogers.
The Punisher isn’t meant to be a celebration of violence, but instead, a critique of violence. In the right hands, Punisher stories are meant to show how far the depths of violence can take someone and what happens when a penchance to violence goes unchecked for too long. It also shows the degree of what an unhealthy coping mechanism to trauma looks like, especially when there’s no end in sight.
6
Just Because He’s a Crazy Maniac Doesn’t Mean The Punisher’s Not Smart
He’s Smarter Than Given Credit for Being
For some reason, there’s a misconception that The Punisher is only as smart as his skills and proficiency at killing. In any other realm, fans think Frank is one step away from being an oaf, but that isn’t the case at all. The reason why Frank Castle has such high tactical intelligence is because his overall IQ is exceptionally high. He’s not going to overtake Reed Richards for the crown of Marvel’s smartest man, but his IQ is nonetheless above average.
Frank just happens to apply his smarts to improvisation on the battlefield. If he applied them to other expertise, he’d excel the same. He’s not only well-educated and multilingual, but once was on track to become a priest. The word resourceful has often been applied to Frank over the years. One cannot be a resourceful genius of their craft without being a resourceful genius, period.
5
The Punisher is a Criminal, Not a Vigilante
Frank Castle Can’t Be Like Other Heroes to Stop Crime
There’s an idea that The Punisher takes the law into his own hands like any other superhero. In reality, that couldn’t be further from the truth, at least as far as Frank Castle is concerned. He’s convinced himself that The Punisher, as a person and a symbol, is nothing more than a criminal. He’s expressed that numerous times, including in 2018’s The Punisher #13. Not only does he object to being called a hero, he condemns police for wearing his logo. To Castle, the Punisher symbol belongs to a criminal and anyone wearing it deserves to be put down.
Frank created The Punisher in an effort to fight fire with fire. The only way to combat the insanity of the world is to be insane enough to become The Punisher. Superheroes need to be pure forces of good, but for the worst of the worst, Castle stoops to evil’s level.
4
Just as The Punisher Can’t Be Like Heroes, He Doesn’t Want Heroes to Be Like Him
The Punisher Doesn’t Want Heroes to Kill
Just because The Punisher goes to violent lengths to fight crime doesn’t mean he thinks other heroes should do the same. He thinks any hero willing to commit the same crimes as he does shouldn’t be considered a hero, but a criminal just as he sees himself. Frank has higher expectations for superheroes than he does himself, and believes that the world needs real superheroes as a symbol of hope for the world to believe in. When he chastises the police for wearing his logo, he suggests they look up to someone like Captain America as a role model instead.
In the famous rooftop scene from the year 2000’s Punisher #3, Frank doesn’t really want to drive Daredevil to kill, hence why the gun has no bullets. He tests the limits of some superheroes, but as he tells Matt Murdock at that moment, “you can leave the killing to me.”
3
If Anyone Isn’t Proud to Be a Marine, It’s The Punisher
Most Depictions Interpret Frank as Believing His Country Failed Him
Going back to The Punisher’s complex relationship with the police force, it should be noted that The Punisher isn’t as patriotic as some people think he is. Yes, prior to becoming The Punisher, Frank Castle was literally a patriot who served his country. However, since becoming The Punisher, Frank has viewed the government and those who serve it as having failed him and maybe even the country at large. He’s anti-establishment to his core, hence why he’s gone out of his way to attack, torture, and assassinate politicians.
Originally, Frank Castle’s origin story set him as having fought in the Vietnam War. Since it’s difficult to justify The Punisher remaining around the same age in the present day as time passes, seeing as Vietnam ended 50 years ago, this part of his backstory was retconned. Current Marvel 616 continuity frames Frank as having fought in the fictional Siancong War.
Furthermore, even when he did serve in the military, it was less out of a patriotic sense of duty and more out of an addiction and an excuse for violence. Garth Ennis’ Born series makes this obvious, to the point that Castle makes a deal with Death so that he can go to war forever, in a shocking twist to his origins.
2
The Punisher Doesn’t Believe in the Justice System at All
This Goes for His Views on Superheroes and Police
The same people who think The Punisher is pro-patriotism tend to think he’s in favor of the justice system. While his journey begins with him getting a thrill from fighting in the war, the opposite was the case once Frank officially picked up the mantle. When his family were slain in front of him, something inside of Frank Castle snapped when the jury let his wife and children’s killers walk. It was from that moment that Frank gave up on the justice system.
He becomes The Punisher in an effort to right the wrongs of the justice system.
Frank became convinced that the justice system just doesn’t work. He becomes The Punisher in an effort to right the wrongs of the justice system. Frank leaves the all-powerful Marvel villains to superheroes, but when it comes to criminals he deems too dangerous to walk the streets, he doesn’t want to give justice the opportunity to fail by not incarcerating them in time or failing to rehabilitate them.
1
No One Should Be Inspired By the Punisher’s Logo
That Goes for Police, Villains, and Heroes Alike
After 50 years, people still don’t understand Punisher’s logo. It’s been mentioned that police officers, both in-universe and in real life, have adopted The Punisher’s iconic skull insignia, but the same can be said of hate groups like the 3-Percenters, who adopted the logo just the same. Regardless of intent, The Punisher’s logo is not meant to be idolized nor is it meant to inspire people. This isn’t Superman’s logo, which means hope. In storyline, Frank crafted his logo as a symbol to incite fear in others.
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Punisher’s Logo Is More Controversial Than Ever Before, As Marvel Makes a Shocking Change
The Punisher’s symbol, like his ultraviolent methods, have been co-opted by one of Marvel’s greatest villains in the worst possible way.
Anyone who adopts that symbol for themselves, whether they are genuinely trying to do so or not, are actively inspiring nothing but fear into the minds of those around them. It’s no wonder why Marvel opted to change Frank’s logo recently. There are plenty of misconceptions about The Punisher, but none remain as prevalent nor as egregious as those related to his famous logo.
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