10 Characters Who Replaced Captain America

When Captain America was assassinated at the end of Civil War it shocked a lot of people. Surprisingly, one of the people most affected by it was the Punisher.

Before he started his lucrative career in domestic bad guy murder, Frank Castle served in the army. During Civil War he revealed that he had been inspired to serve by the stories of Cap's WWII adventures. Despite the two never seeing eye-to-eye, Punisher always idolised Captain America as a true hero.

In the wake of Steve's death, Punisher decided he would be the one to carry on Cap's legacy and incorporated elements of the Avenger's costume into his own.

Captain Punisher didn't exactly live up to his predecessors example though. Frank still stuck to his usual brutal methods of dispatching criminals, only now he did it with a star on his forehead. The new look only lasted a few issues before a more suitable candidate came along and reclaimed the mantle.

Punisher also became Captain America in an issue of What If? In one reality, Steve Rogers was badly injured in a fight with the Red Skull and Vietnam veteran Frank Castle was chosen to replace him. Frank took up the mantle, but secretly still operated as the Punisher. However, the original Cap was eventually able to convince him to give up his murderous ways.