9 Classic Marvel Characters The Punisher Has Killed

The Man Without Fear's epic showdown with Punisher from Daredevil #291 to #293 is the stuff of Marvel Comics legend, so much so that the House of M revisited the event and turned it on its head for the What If? series.

In core continuity, Frank Castle incapacitates the Devil of Hell's Kitchen with a tranquilliser dart, but in the alternate universe title, this ends up being fatal since an unconscious Daredevil then falls off a ledge to his death.

Matt Murdoch's demise sparks a superhero war in New York City, with Spider-Man leading the opposition against Punisher. The pair clash and Castle hospitalises Spidey with a gunshot to the shoulder, an event which ultimately exposes his secret identity and leads to Aunt May's death as a knock-on effect.

This sees an enraged Spider-Man redouble his efforts to take down Punisher, and he busts him up pretty bad, breaking his ribs and puncturing a lung, forcing Castle to shoot the web-slinger dead to save his own hide.

Castle later realises it was The Kingpin who masterminded the entire scenario and goes after him, but, since he's addled by the injuries inflicted during his scrap with Spidey, Wilson Fisk kills him without breaking a sweat.

Resourceful Castle, however, has the last laugh from beyond the grave when a package turns up addressed to Fisk, bringing the curtain down in explosive fashion when it detonates and takes out the chrome-domed crimelord.