7 Most Powerful Superheroes the Punisher Has Defeated

The Punisher has always been one of Marvel Comics’ most iconic and violent anti-heroes. After his family was killed by the mafia, marine veteran Frank Castle abandoned his civilian identity and became the scourge of the criminal underworld known as the Punisher. Using only his military training, willpower, and a huge assortment of weapons, this vicious anti-hero has killed thousands of criminals. He’s had many exploits with other superheroes and is set to appear this year in Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Daredevil: Born Again Season 2. Naturally, as a gun-toting vigilante, the Punisher has often found himself fighting superheroes who want to arrest him for all the lives he’s taken. Still, no matter how many heroes try, they always fail to defeat the Punisher.

Not restrained by a no-kill rule, the Punisher has proven himself to be a resourceful and formidable opponent against heroes and villains alike. Even though he’s just a former soldier with lots of experience and weapons, he still manages to defy the odds and outclass some of Marvel’s strongest heroes.

7) Daredevil

The Punisher and Daredevil have one of the most intense superhero feuds in comics, and they’ll frequently switch between being allies and enemies. The Punisher #3 has the titular anti-hero challenge Daredevil’s moral code. When the Punisher is hunting a notorious gangster, Daredevil arrives to stop him. However, the anti-hero manages to subdue Daredevil by using loudspeakers to exploit his weakness to sound. Upon waking up, Daredevil finds himself tied up with a gun in his hand. The Punisher gives the hero a sadistic ultimatum: shoot and kill him to save the gangster or let him murder the gangster. Ultimately, Daredevil decides to pull the trigger, but discovers that the gun has no bullets. After forcing the hero to break his code, the Punisher kills the gangster.

6) Deadpool

Deadpool is Marvel’s other major gun-wielding anti-hero, so naturally, he’s crossed paths with the Punisher on several occasions. Yet despite having the advantage of a near-instantaneous healing factor, the Merc with a Mouth proved to be completely outclassed in Deadpool vs. Punisher #1. When the Punisher tries to kill Deadpool’s money-laundering friend, nicknamed the Bank, the two anti-heroes get into a brutal gunfight. When it appeared that the Bank’s innocent wife and son had been killed in an explosion, Deadpool mistakenly believes that the Punisher was responsible and decides to get his revenge. Unfortunately, after finding his safe house, Deadpool immediately is shot in the head by the Punisher. While Deadpool survives the injury, it still is a crushing defeat.

5) Wolverine

There are a few instances where it’s painfully clear that a writer hates a character more than Garth Ennis’ treatment of Wolverine in Punisher #16-17. When the Punisher and Wolverine are both investigating a string of dismemberments, they mistakenly believe that the other is the culprit and engage in a vicious fight. After the Punisher shoots Wolverine’s face off with a shotgun, the pair nonetheless team up when they’re surrounded by a gang, who were the real perpetrators. When they’re chased, the Punisher distracts the gang by shooting Wolverine in the groin, allowing them to capture the X-Man. While the Punisher comes back to save Wolverine, the mutant understandably still wants to kill him. To give Wolverine some time to calm down, the Punisher flattens him with a steamroller.

Read Next

Before His MCU Return, We Have To Admit It – The Punisher is Marvel’s Most Frustrating Character

4) Spider-Man

The Punisher made his first appearance as an antagonist of Spider-Man. Over the years, the Wall-Crawler’s idealistic nature has clashed with the anti-hero’s blood-soaked campaign against crime. This has led to them fighting each other numerous times. In Giant-Sized Spider-Man #4, Spider-Man helps the Punisher fight kidnappers. However, Spider-Man becomes enraged when he learns that the Punisher would have allowed a kidnapped woman to die to obtain a lead on finding some terrorists. Spider-Man used his superior strength and agility to throw the Punisher around before the anti-hero managed to knock him out with a tranquilizer gun. When Spider-Man wakes up several hours later, he teams up with the Punisher to stop the terrorists.

3) Luke Cage and Iron Fist

The Heroes for Hire, Luke Cage and Iron Fist, are some of Marvel’s most iconic street-level heroes. Additionally, with Luke Cage’s unbreakable skin and Iron Fist’s supernatural martial arts, they are a daunting force. In The Punisher #2, the anti-hero ran into Luke Cage and Iron Fist while he was evading the police. Although the Punisher’s bullets did not affect Luke Cage, the anti-hero was more successful when he shoved a grenade down the invincible hero’s shirt. After the detonation knocked Luke Cage down, Iron Fist started beating the Punisher. However, the Punisher managed to defeat both heroes simultaneously by putting another grenade in a car’s fuel filler and shooting at it. The explosion sent the Heroes for Hire flying, which gave the Punisher time to escape.

2) Ghost Rider

The Ghost Rider is a hero feared throughout Heaven and Hell. As a being who makes the wicked suffer for their sins, it was only a matter of time until Ghost Rider targeted the Punisher. In Thunderbolts #29, the Punisher collected various enchanted weapons to defend himself. Still, Ghost Rider managed to unleash his Penance Stare on the Punisher to make him experience all the pain he had ever inflicted on others. However, the Penance Stare didn’t affect the Punisher because he had no regrets. Even though that’s not remotely how the Penance Stare works, it still gave the Punisher the opening he needed to bind Ghost Rider in his own chains and send him to Hell.

1) Avengers

The Avengers aren’t called the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes for nothing, as some of the strongest beings in Marvel Comics are among its ranks. Even when the Punisher was outfitted with a War Machine suit in The Punisher #225, his chances to emerge victorious against 12 Avengers seemed slim. Some of the Avengers sent to apprehend the Punisher included powerhouses like Captain Marvel, the Thing, Hercules, and Luke Cage, along with other strong heroes like Spider-Man, Cannonball, and U.S. Agent. Yet despite these insane odds, the Punisher’s War Machine suit managed to knock out and stun the Avengers even as they attacked him simultaneously. To cover his escape, the Punisher blew up the warehouse they were fighting in. When the Avengers recovered from the explosion, he was long gone.

What do you think? Leave a Comment below and join the conversation in the ComicBook Forum!