| NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of the Punisher from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The mainstream version can be found here: Punisher (Marvel). |
  |
This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, strong drug use, extremely traumatic themes, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page. |
| “ | I know who I am... and I do not need your help! I am smack-dab in the middle of my right goddamn mind, and any scumbag, any- any lowlife, any maggot piece of shit that I put down, I did it because I LIKED IT! HELL, I LOVED IT! I'm sittin', I'm- I'm just itch'n, I'm-I'm-I'm itch'n to do it again, and you think what? You think you're gonna send me to a nuthouse? Some doctor, they're gonna get me to stop from doing what I wanna do?! WELL, THAT AIN'T HAPPENIN'! NOT ON MY WATCH! | „ |
| ~ Punisher in court. |
Francis David "Frank" Castle Sr., also known as the Punisher, is a major character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He is a New York City-based vigilante, whose wife, daughter and son were all murdered in a drug sting gone wrong between NYC's most infamous gangs: the Dogs of Hell, the Kitchen Irish and the Mexican Cartel.
In contrast to Daredevil, the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, the Punisher leaves none of his targets alive. With his military background and training, the Punisher is precise, tactical, and hard to capture or contain. Only in cases of extreme torture or having no other options will he get captured or imprisoned.
His use of murder and extreme violence caught the attention of Daredevil and the two engaged in a war between their ideologies to achieve justice and peace. After being tortured by the Kitchen Irish and subsequently imprisoned for his crimes, Castle underwent a trial but purposefully botched it to go to prison and gain information on his family's death. He later escaped and continued his rampage on crime. Adopting the identity of Pete Castiglione, Castle attempted to move on with his life until he partnered with Micro to stop his former allies Billy Russo and William Rawlins.
He is portrayed by Jon Bernthal, who also played Al Capone in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Shane Walsh in AMC's The Walking Dead, Grady "Coon-Ass" Travis in Fury, Braxton Wolff in The Accountant films, Johnny Boy Soprano in The Many Saints of Newark and voiced Trigon in Justice League vs. Teen Titans and Cole D. Walker in the Ghost Recon video games.
Quick Answers
Who are the main villains in Punisher Season 1?
What drives Frank Castle to become the Punisher?
How does Frank Castle differ from Daredevil in his methods?
Is the Punisher considered a bad guy in the MCU?
What military skills does Frank Castle use as the Punisher?
History[]
Origins[]
Frank Castle was born in the Hell's Kitchen district of New York City sometime in 1983. Shortly after the 9/11 terror attacks on September 11, 2001, Frank Castle, just 18 at the time, enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, where he served under General Ray Schoonover.
During his years of military training, Frank befriended Billy Russo and learned about his troubled past. He participated in numerous battles in Iraq, Afghanistan and other regions, including the Battle of Fallujah, eventually becoming a Scout Sniper. Castle and Russo both became operatives for Cerberus Squad, which was led by Schoonover himself and William Rawlins, and were tasked to execute several targets. After an operation went south, Castle assaulted Rawlins for his callousness and carelessness towards his own men, and was devastated to learn from Russo that he was leaving the military.
During this time, he married a woman named Maria Castle and had two children, Lisa and Frank Jr., and after returning from Iraq, he reunited with Lisa at her school. He declined to read a children's book to her titled "Penny & Dime", saying he'd read it for her tomorrow. Before the tragic incident, Russo knew that Castle's family were going to murdered, and didn't tell them despite not participating in the operation.
The next day, on April 4, 2015, he took his family to Central Park, where, unexpectedly, three gangs were present; the Dogs of Hell, the Mexican Cartel and the Kitchen Irish. The resulting three-way firefight ended up killing Maria, Frank Jr. and Lisa, leaving Frank himself alive, traumatized and angry.
He was shot in the head and sent to a hospital, but a Do Not Resuscitate order had been placed on him. Despite flat-lining, Frank came back to life within seconds without any medical aid, demanding to be taken back to his home, which they did. Now having a vendetta against all three of the gangs involved in the firefight, he made his targets and acquired all the weapons necessary for his mission.
Marvel's Daredevil (Season 2)[]
His first attack was on the Kitchen Irish, whom he massacred with a machine-gun. He then targeted the Burren Club, where the Dogs of Hell were located, and he killed them all. After finding members of the Mexican Cartel, he kills several of them and spares a few, leaving the survivors hung up on meat hooks, blood covering them. They were later found by the vigilante Matt Murdock/Daredevil, who had assumed that an army of men had done this; he was proven wrong when one of the men he found on a meat hook said "Not they; him", implying one single man. He goes to a pawn shop and buys several weapons and a police scanner, using the scanner to catch up on crime in Hell's Kitchen.
However, the man told Frank to stay, as he had some fine pornography videos, including one with a 12-year-old girl in it; Frank, horrified, locked the door and used a baseball bat to brutally-murder him. Grotto, a member of the Kitchen Irish who survived the attempt on his gang, was placed in Metro-General Hospital; Frank, wanting no strings left untied, went to the hospital with a shotgun in hand, walking through the halls in a fast-walk pace before finding Grotto fleeing with amateur lawyer Karen Page and firing off multiple rounds in the halls with a shotgun in his hands.
Despite their escape from the hospital, Frank went to the rooftop to snipe at Grotto from above, taking several shots at him while avoiding Page, who he viewed as innocent; at that moment, Daredevil arrived and fought Frank. Frank, not considering Daredevil a criminal but an obstacle, shoots him in the helmet, saying aloud "Bang" right as he did it, and fled while Daredevil was incapacitated.
While Grotto was still on the run, Frank would anticipate when he would appear once again. As District Attorney Samantha Reyes would use him as bait, Castle would later ambush the situation. After regaining his senses, Daredevil manages to intervene, but is knocked out once again, and this time taken captive.
After Daredevil finds himself tied up in chains, Punisher wakes him up in time to make him witness killing the Dogs of Hell. As he prepares the attack, Daredevil is able to hear the necklace around Frank's neck. Matt begins asking if he was actually Catholic, although Frank admits once. Castle tells Matt to stop digging any further into his past. When Daredevil suddenly realizes what is causing the motivation of Frank Castle's war against crime, the Punisher begins to mock the Devil of Hell's Kitchen about his method on fighting crime.
Marvel's The Punisher[]
After aiding Daredevil with the fight from the Hand, Frank resumes hunting down whoever is left of the dogs of hell and the Irish Mob. After completing his mission, Frank decided to give up his mantle and lay low, going into hiding under the pseudonym "Pete Castiglione".
Daredevil: Born Again (Season 1)[]
To be added.
Personality[]
Frank Castle is a cynical, brutal man with a black-and-white attitude for the world and a lack of distinction, or even care for right and wrong, good and evil and even morals. He does not expect criminals to change and believes the only way people can be safe is for them to be put down, less they come back and cause more harm. He mocks Daredevil for leaving criminals alive and his beliefs of hope.
When his family was killed in a gang war, Castle was transformed into a brutal and determined vigilante with the mind of an extremely dedicated yet misguided war hero. In dealing with criminals, he is efficient but with little remorse or ethical boundaries to cross. Due to his military background he is highly desensitized to the violence he inflicts others and is able to kill with tactical precision which results in him finishing the job with as minimum or maximum casualties as he wishes. Because of his violent fashions and nature, many people believe he possesses sadistic attraction to his profession. This might be true, however Castle appears more driven out of love for his family and rage over their deaths. If he believes there is a small chance a mugger would become like the criminals who took his children from him he will take it seriously and eradicate them without a second hesitation. He obviously loves his family, even years after their deaths, viewing his crusade as the Punisher as a way to make up for his inability to save them. He avenges their deaths by destroying the three gangs who partook in killing them and repeats his daughter's favorite book before pulling a trigger to honor her.
Despite his ruthless nature, Castle does genuinely care for the lives of the innocent and is careful towards civilian casualties. He lives by the same code he learn while in the military; "One Shot, One Kill", getting the job done with as little casualties as possible. He has a strong dislike towards unnecessary violence, knowing a soldier finishes the enemy quickly despite how much he may or may not deserve it. Though he will use violence as means to his end and torture to gain information, and on one occasion hanged the Mexican Cartel on meat hooks to die, whilst pondering how to torture the Blacksmith, the man who inadvertently caused his family's death, in a shed he remembers the motto Schoonover taught him in the idea and kills him with a swift shot to the head.
Frank dislikes being thought of as insane or not in control of his own actions, knocking Daredevil out when he says otherwise and screaming during his trial when they state he needs mental help. He also refused to accept a plea for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, claiming he didn't suffer from any of the sort and it was insult to soldiers who did. It's unknown if this is true as the trauma of war and guilt of his family's deaths could be a contributing cause of his mental state. However, it’s possible he does not have PTSD because of his strong mind and because grieving doesn’t always lead to insanity because it’s rational for someone to feel anger at someone who has killed someone they loved. However it's still possible he actually suffers from a small form of PTSD and his returning to his wife and kids was one of the things that kept him going when he served as a marine and in general and that while he's not crazy despite this he's extremely broken on the inside as loosing his family completely broke his spirit.
Skills and Abilities[]
- Master Combatant: Castle, as a former marine with years of experience, is a very dangerous, fierce, and lethal hand-to-hand combatant, holding his own against the highly skilled Daredevil, even briefly gaining the upper hand against him in their first encounter. He impressed Daredevil with his speed and ferocity, while the latter was able to get the upper hand in the fight with the use of his agility. Hence, Castle, while unarmed, survived being ambushed by multiple armed prison inmates at once, swiftly taking them all down in a brutal bloodthirsty fashion, greatly impressing Kingpin, who claimed that Castle has a "unique talent".
- Master Marksman: Castle graduated from Marine Corps Base Quantico of class 307. A former scout sniper and marine, Castle has considerable expertise in handling many firearms. Due to his military training, Frank Castle is a deadly shot, adhering to his unit's philosophy of "One shot, One kill". With his devastating use in firearms, he made many criminals and police officials believe his attacks were the work of a group or "army". Hence, as the Punisher, Castle rarely misses his target, and easily avoids injuring innocent civilians, thus managing to swiftly take down the last four Hand ninjas without wounding Daredevil, all from an immense distance away.
- Master Tactician: Castle is a highly skilled, effective and experienced military tactician, since notably, during the seemingly hopeless extraction of his unit, Castle assumed command, and single-handedly cleared a helicopter landing zone of enemy combatants (that prevented his unit's escape), while the rest of his men, even Ray Schoonover, hunkered down. As the Punisher, Castle later used these tactics to single-handedly track and kill entire gangs of criminals (notably the Dogs of Hell, Kitchen Irish, and Mexican Cartel) with high efficiency, to the point that Castle was initially mistaken by Daredevil and the police for an entire squad of gunmen, rather than a single man.
Victims[]
Daredevil
- Nesbitt - Shot in the head by the Punisher.
- Unnamed Member of the Kitchen Irish - Shot by the Punisher.
- Johnny - Shot in the chest by the Punisher.
- George - Shot in the throat by the Punisher.
- Two Unnamed Member of the Kitchen Irish - Shot by the Punisher.
- Unnamed Member of the Kitchen Irish - Shot by the Punisher.
- Unnamed Member of the Kitchen Irish - Shot by the Punisher.
- Two Unnamed Member of the Kitchen Irish - Shot by the Punisher.
- Kelly Cooley - Shot in the chest by the Punisher.
- Thomas - Shot in the chest by the Punisher.
- Cullen - Shot in the chest by the Punisher.
- Adrian Blanc - Shot in the chest by the Punisher.
- Unnamed Member of the Kitchen Irish - Shot in the chest by the Punisher.
- Five Unnamed Members of the Mexican Cartel - Killed and hung on meat hooks by the Punisher off-screen.
- Four Unnamed Members of the Dogs of Hell - Killed by the Punisher off-screen, mentioned.
- Smitty - Killed by the Punisher off-screen, mentioned.
- Michael Jortner - Shot in the chest by the Punisher off-screen, seen in file.
- Peter Gelfress - Shot in the chest by the Punisher off-screen, seen in file.
- Clint - Beaten to death by the Punisher with a bat off-screen.
- Four Unnamed Members of the Dogs of Hell - Shot by the Punisher off-screen, shots heard.
- Elliot "Grotto" Grote - Shot in the chest by the Punisher.
- Four Unnamed Members of the Irish Kitchen - Shot by the Punisher.
- Rafe - Blown up by the Punisher.
- Unnamed Members of the Irish Kitchen - Blown up by the Punisher.
- Unnamed Members of the Irish Kitchen - Shot in the head by the Punisher.
- Unnamed Members of the Irish Kitchen - Shot in the chest by the Punisher.
- Finn Cooley - Shot in the face by the Punisher.
- Unnamed Prisoner - Throat slit by the Punisher.
- Dutton - Stabbed in the gut by the Punisher.
- Unnamed Prisoner - Stabbed in the stomach by the Punisher with a wooden spike.
- Unnamed Prisoner - Stabbed in the stomach and chest repeatedly by the Punisher.
- Unnamed Prisoner - Stabbed in the chest by the Punisher.
- Unnamed Prisoner - Stabbed in the head by the Punisher.
- Unnamed Prisoner - Neck snapped by the Punisher.
- Unnamed Prisoner - Throat slit by the Punisher.
- Unnamed Prisoner - Head bashed in by the Punisher with an axe.
- Unnamed Prisoner - Stabbed in the throat by the Punisher.
- Speed - Shot in the head by the Punisher.
- Chaney - Shot in the head by the Punisher off-screen.
- Three Unnamed Men - Shot by the Punisher off-screen.
- Unnamed Man - Shot in the chest and head by the Punisher.
- Nine Unnamed Men - Struck with shrapnel from explosion caused by the Punisher.
- Gosnell - Struck with shrapnel from explosion caused by the Punisher.
- Six Unnamed Men - Blown up in an explosion caused by the Punisher.
- Ray Schoonover - Shot in the head by the Punisher.
- Four Unnamed Members of the Hand - Shot in the head by the Punisher.
- Total - 79
The Punisher
Season One
- Two Dogs of Hell Members - Ran over by Frank Castle.
- Unknown Mexican Cartel Member - Shot in the head by Frank Castle with a sniper rifle.
- Unknown Irish Gangster - Strangled to death by Frank Castle with a belt.
- Leo - Neck broken by Frank Castle with a sledgehammer.
- Paulie - Shot in the head by Frank Castle.
- Lance- Bludgeoned to death by Frank Castle with a sledgehammer.
- Six Italian Gangsters - Shot to death by Frank Castle.
- Tony Gnucci - Shot to death by Frank Castle.
- Ahmad Zubair - Shot in the head by Frank Castle.
- Carson Wolf - Neck snapped by Frank Castle.
- Nine Terrorists - Shot to death by Frank Castle.
- Terrorist - Beaten to death by Frank Castle.
- Three Unknown Thugs - Killed by Frank Castle to recover a van.
- Nine Anvil Soldiers - Killed by Frank Castle and Gunner Henderson in the forest.
- Anvil Member - Neck snapped by Frank Castle.
- Anvil Member - Hanged by Frank Castle.
- Anvil Member - Stabbed in the neck by Frank Castle, then decapitated.
- Two Anvil Members - Blown up with a grenade secretly tied to a severed head thrown by Frank Castle.
- Nine Anvil Members - Shot to death by Frank Castle.
- Five Anvil Members - Blown up with bombs planted by Frank Castle.
- Anvil Member - Shot to death by Frank Castle.
- Anvil Member - Stabbed in the neck by Frank Castle.
- Three Anvil Members - Shot to death by Frank Castle.
- William Rawlins - Beaten and stabbed to death by Frank Castle.
- Total - 63
Season Two
- Olin Mercenary - Head smashed against a sink by Frank Castle.
- Olin Mercenary - Stabbed to death by Frank Castle.
- Olin Mercenary - Stabbed to death by Frank Castle.
- Olin Mercenary - Stabbed in the head by Frank Castle.
- Olin Mercenary - Shot to death by Frank Castle.
- Olin Mercenary - Beaten to death with a shotgun by Frank Castle.
- Five Olin Mercenaries - Shot to death by Frank Castle.
- Four Olin Mercenaries - Shot to death by Frank Castle.
- Two of Pilgrim's Men - Shot to death by Frank Castle.
- Two of Pilgrim's men - Burned to death after their molotov cocktails were shot by Frank Castle.
- Eight of Pilgrim's Men - Shot to death by Frank Castle.
- Two of Pilgrim's Men - Shot to death by Frank Castle.
- Six of Kazan's Men - Beaten to death by Frank Castle.
- Two of Russo's Gang Members - Shot to death by Frank Castle.
- Bounty Hunter - Shot in the chest by Amy Bendix in self-defense, later killed by Frank Castle.
- Billy Russo Crew Member - Neck bitten out by Frank Castle.
- Billy Russo Crew Member - Beaten to death by Frank Castle.
- Billy Russo Crew Member - Stabbed in the neck by Frank Castle.
- Billy Russo Crew Member - Neck slashed by Frank Castle.
- Three Billy Russo Crew Members - Shot by Frank Castle.
- Billy Russo Crew Member - Stabbed in the head by Frank Castle.
- Six Billy Russo Crew Members - Shot by Frank Castle.
- Billy "Jigsaw" Russo - Mortally wounded by Madani, then executed by an enraged Frank Castle.
- Eliza Schultz - Shot in the back of the head by Frank Castle for trying to kill Amy Bendix.
- 14 Gang Members - Gunned down by Frank Castle.
- Total - 67
Daredevil: Born Again
- Numerous unnamed Anti-Vigilante Task Force officers
- Total -
Overall
- Total - 209
Quotes[]
Daredevil[]
| “ | Bang. | „ |
| ~ Punisher to Daredevil. |
| “ | That part of it was always easy for me. Killing. Even watching my buddies die, it just... it didn't mean nothing. The first time I got scared... was on a plane on the way home. I kept thinking God was gonna pull the rug out from under us, you know? | „ |
| ~ Punisher to Daredevil. |
| “ | The Punisher: Look around, Red. This city, it stinks. It's a sewer. It stinks and it smells like shit and I can't get the stink out of my nose. I think that this world, it needs men who are willing to make the hard call. I think you and me are the same! Daredevil: That's bullshit, Frank, and you know it! The Punisher: Only I do the one thing you can't. You hit'em and they get back up. I hit'em and they stay down! |
„ |
| ~ The Punisher and Daredevil argue, and the former compares himself to the latter. |
| “ | You call me the Punisher, ain't that right? The big bad Punisher. Well, here I am! You want it, you got it! I am the Punisher! I'm right here! You want it, I'll give it to you. And anybody who came here today to hear me whine, to hear me beg? Well, you can kiss my ass! I'm guilty, you hear me! I'm guilty! | „ |
| ~ Frank defends himself in the courtroom. |
| “ | You call the police, get protective custody, get away from this thing, away from me. Just stay away from me. | „ |
| ~ Punisher to Karen Page. |
| “ | One shot... One kill... You taught me that. | „ |
| ~ Punisher to Ray Schoonover, moments before killing him. |
| “ | See you around, Red. | „ |
| ~ Punisher after helping Daredevil. |
The Punisher[]
Season One[]
| “ | One batch. Two batch. Penny and Dime. | „ |
| ~ Punisher's catchphrase. |
| “ | Fair enough. | „ |
| ~ Punisher to Jack, moments before killing him. |
| “ | All the things that I done... Memories. They never hurt me. But the past is more than memories... It's the devil you sold your soul to. He's coming. He's coming to collect. | „ |
| ~ Frank Castle. |
| “ | I'm not gonna let you die today. Dying's easy. You are gonna learn about pain. You're gonna learn about loss. Every morning I look for 'em, Bill. I look for 'em but then I remember. It's gonna be the same for you. When you look at your ugly, mangled face, you're gonna remember what you did. You'll remember, Bill! | „ |
| ~ Punisher to Russo, mangling his face. |
| “ | If you're gonna look at yourself, really look in the mirror, you got to admit who you are. But not just to yourself, you gotta admit it to everybody else. First time, as long as I can remember, I don't have a war to fight. And I guess, if I'm gonna be honest, I just I'm scared. | „ |
| ~ Punisher to Curtis Hoyle. |
Season Two[]
| “ | As far as that maniac on your phone, that's my problem and I'll deal with it. I give you my word. | „ |
| ~ The Punisher to Dinah Madani. |
| “ | I'm not the one that dies, kid. I'm the one that does the killing. Thing is, every time I try to be someone different, that's when the wrong people get hurt. | „ |
| ~ Punisher to Amy Bendix. |
| “ | You know something, David? Russians, they paid for these photos. Then, but then, somebody found out, and everybody involved, they got killed. Who could have done that? Maybe someone with power, someone with pull, right? Someone with no mercy. Thing is, you sit there in front of me, you say you got no idea who did it. But, see, here's the thing. I think you know exactly who it is. | „ |
| ~ The Punisher to David Schultz. |
| “ | Time for you to make a choice. You take that gun. You stick it in your mouth. You blow out the back of your head. Or you live. But you live with the truth. | „ |
| ~ The Punisher to Anderson Schultz. |
| “ | Hey! I'll dance with you. | „ |
| ~ Frank's last line of the series before gunning down gangsters. |
Daredevil: Born Again[]
| “ | Every time I stop moving, I still hear my little boy. I see him. And I hear his voice. He says, 'Get 'em Daddy. Every last single one of 'em, get 'em.' That's why I do what I do. And that's why I see it in you. That's why I see it in you, because you know you didn't do a goddamn thing and it's gonna keep eating at you. It's gonna keep eating, and eating, and eating. There's no getting away with it, you understand? | „ |
| ~ Frank Castle to Matt Murdock. |
| “ | Out of your f-ckin' minds, you know that? You're a bunch of clowns, you know that? You f-ckin' clowns. Admire me. You think you know my pain? You think you know my loss? You admire me? What do you know about me? How I see the world? You know how I see the world? It's just a circus. A bunch of clowns. I ain't gonna serve with you. I won't f-ckin' piss on you if you were on fire, you got that? | „ |
| ~ The Punisher to the Anti-Vigilante Task Force members. |
Gallery[]
.jpg "Punisher (Daredevil - Born Again).jpg (169 KB)")
.png "Punisher (Marvel's Daredevil).png (406 KB)")
Trivia[]
- Frank has a higher body-count than all other single characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, having killed over 200 known characters and 41 of them being named.
- While undone, clearly Thanos outdid him with the death of half of all living beings, which would be in the trillions if not far higher. Iron Man himself would use the Nano Gauntlet to kill Thanos, the Black Order, Chitauri, Outriders, and Sakaarans, which accumulated into a force of thousands.
- To be considered for the role, Jon Bernthal made audition tapes with young actor Tom Holland while filming Pilgrimage. Jon was then cast as the Punisher, while Tom Holland was cast as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War and for future solo films and sequels to Marvel's The Avengers.
- In the original Marvel Comics, the Punisher was a Vietnam War veteran named Francis Castiglione.
- Frank enlisted in the marines after 9/11 in the MCU, ironically enough, the actor Jon Bernthal actually was casted in a film based on the event called World Trade Center.
- The Marvel Cinematic Universe version of the Punisher marks the fourth live-action appearance of the character, having been portrayed by Dolph Lungren (who portrayed Drago in Rocky IV and Konstantin Kovar in Arrow), Thomas Jane and the late Ray Stevenson (who also played Baylan Skoll and Gar Saxon in the Star Wars series) in several live-action movies about the character.
External Links[]
- Punisher on the Heroes Wiki.
- Punisher on the Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki.
- Punisher on the Marvel Database.
[]
 Villains
| ||
|
Comics Movies Television Video Games | ||
