The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher made his first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 (cover-dated February 1974), originally depicted as an assassin and adversary of the superhero Spider-Man.
The character is depicted as an Italian-American[9][10] vigilante who employs murder, kidnapping, extortion, coercion, threats of violence, and torture in his campaign against crime. Driven by the deaths of his wife and two children, who were killed by the mob for witnessing a killing in New York City's Central Park, the Punisher wages a one-man war on crime.[11] A veteran (originally of the Vietnam War[12][8] and later updated alternately to the fictional Siancong War and the Iraq War)[13][14] U.S. Marine Corps Scout/Sniper in Force Recon, Castle is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, guerrilla warfare, and marksmanship.[9][10] He is well known for the skull motif on his chest, envisioned by his creators as a skull-and-crossbones symbol on his right breast.[15][16] In the 2022 run featuring the character, after joining The Hand, Castle adopts a new logo inspired by the Japanese mythological demon Oni.[17]
The Punisher's brutal nature and willingness to kill made him an anomaly in mainstream American comic books when he debuted in 1974. By the late 1980s, the Punisher was part of a wave of psychologically troubled antiheroes. At the height of his popularity, the character was featured in four monthly publications: The Punisher, The Punisher War Journal, The Punisher: War Zone, and The Punisher Armory. An alternate future version of the character dubbed the "Cosmic Ghost Rider", created by Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw, began publication in 2018 as a Thanos supporting character, becoming a breakout character and receiving his own ongoing series, often coming into opposition with his past self. In 2017, following the 2016 Civil War II storyline, where Jim "Rhodey" Rhodes met his death at the hands of Thanos, Nick Fury, Jr. obtained the War Machine armor from a black market syndicate and persuaded Punisher to don the armor and carry on in Rhodes' name, succeeding him as the second War Machine for a short while, customizing the armor with his skull motif.[18] Following Rhodes' resurrection alongside Tony Stark for the Marvel Legacy initiative, Castle relinquished the armor and title to him and resumed as Punisher.
Despite his violent actions and dark nature, the Punisher has enjoyed some mainstream success on television, making guest appearances on series such as Spider-Man and The Super Hero Squad Show, where the depiction of his violent behavior was toned down for family viewers.
In feature films, Dolph Lundgren portrayed the character in the 1989 film The Punisher, as did Thomas Jane in the 2004 film The Punisher, and Ray Stevenson in 2008's Punisher: War Zone. Jon Bernthal portrayed the character in the second season of Daredevil, the spin-off The Punisher and will reprise the role in Daredevil: Born Again, set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
