Punisher

The Punisher (Francis G. "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 a vigilante who employs murder, kidnapping, 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. Castle is a veteran U.S. Marine Corps Scout/Sniper in Force Recon. The stories initially place his military service in the Vietnam War, but this was much later updated to the Gulf War and then to the fictional Siancong War. Castle is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, guerrilla warfare, and marksmanship. He is known for the skull motif on his chest. The symbol has since become widely controversial after becoming appropriated by United States military personnel and law enforcement, as well as far-right organizations.

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''. While his popularity declined markedly in the mid-1990s, writer Garth Ennis revived interest in the character in the early 2000s, particularly in a series under the Max imprint.

In 2017, the Punisher became the second War Machine for a brief period. An alternate 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 feature films, the character has been portrayed by Dolph Lundgren in ''The Punisher'' (1989), by Thomas Jane in ''The Punisher'' (2004), and by Ray Stevenson in ''Punisher: War Zone'' (2008). Jon Bernthal portrays the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in the second season of ''Daredevil'' (2016), the spin-off series ''The Punisher'' (2017–2019), the first season of ''Daredevil: Born Again'' (2025), and is scheduled to return in an untitled Punisher television special, the second season of ''Born Again'', and ''Spider-Man: Brand New Day'' (all three in 2026). 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. Provided by Wikipedia