10 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About The Punisher
1. His Problematic Elements
Look, let's not beat around the bush here: Frank Castle is a very controversial character. Interesting? Yes. Idolised? Wrongfully so.
The Punisher is not your typical Marvel hero: he kills cooly - without remorse - and does so often in grotesque and even sadistic ways. That makes him a fascinating character to dissect in the sense that he's diametrically opposed to popular perceptions of what it means to be a hero, but all too often we see people lionise Frank Castle as a symbol of resistance, power, and ideological purity.
There's nothing wrong with liking the Punisher. He is, after all, a uniquely entertaining and wholly absorbing character to engage with, and one that this writer has explored on numerous occasions. However, there is a massive problem at play here when so many people can so fundamentally misread the character that they place him above others as the ideal superhero to celebrate, rather than castigate.
We've seen as such in real life contexts, where - as CBR columnist Kieran Shiach notes - police officers and military units have adopted the character's symbology, emboldened by Castle's simplistic and uniquely callous ideology where life itself is of trivial importance in the pursuit of justice. That's a major concern, particularly when writers have repeatedly bludgeoned home the point that Frank Castle is who he is because of violence. Worse still, it intimates a disregard for legal process, and while the same rule could be applied if, say, the Bat-symbol adorned military and police equipment, Batman doesn't kill, or display as sacrosanct or as brutal a dogma as his black and white counterpart most certainly does.
It's okay to enjoy the Punisher, but now - more than ever - it's important to be aware of how the character can be misappropriated. In a milieu as volatile as today's, however, it's essential.
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What do you think people get wrong about the Punisher? Is he as interesting as people make him out to be? Let us know in the comments below!