Marvel's Latest Punisher Arc Makes A Thought-Provoking Change to Frank Castle's Tragic Backstory

Marvel's latest story arc for The Punisher has ended, and it makes some truly thought-provoking changes to the origin story of Frank Castle, and the entire framework for his change into The Punisher. 

For as long as most Marvel fans can remember, The Punisher has been a violent agent of revenge – brutally dispensing a form of vigilante justice that has always lurked deep within the subconscious of our normal law-abiding society. However, Marvel writer Jason Aaron and his team of artists (Jesús Saiz & Paul Azaceta) told a masterful two-pronged story in The Punisher 12-part story arc "The King of Killers" – one that has culminated in the thematic drama of Frank Castle finally having to admit that his version of Punisher's origin is, and always has been, a self-deluded lie. 

Who Is The REAL Beast Behind The Punisher? 

"The King of Killers" saw Frank Castle become the avatar/executioner for "The Beast," the demonic entity that is the power behind the evil ninja cult known as The Hand. As the "Fist of the Beast," Punisher led the Hand on a worldwide crusade of hunting down and slaughtering evildoers on a scale like never before. Of course, Punisher's new role and supernatural powers put him at odds with gods (Ares, God of War), Avengers, and even rival ninja cults (Daredevil and Elektra's "The Fist" clan). But Frank didn't mind paying the cost of conflict, at all, as the reward was the Hand resurrecting his dead wife, Maria. 

Although back from the grave, Maria's memory was broken from being dead for so long. In a series of flashbacks over the course of the "King of Killers" we get to see a very different version of Frank Castle's backstory – for once not told through the skewed lens of his own mind. What Aaron revealed is a deeper and more extensive history of violence surrounding Frank Castle – starting from when he burned a local gangster alive in the streets of his neighborhood as a kid, after witnessing the gangster getting away with murder. The thesis explored in these flashbacks was that Frank Castle had been on The Beast's radar all along, because violence and killing have been core parts of his nature, all along. 

As Maria finally tells Frank in a climatic argument in Punisher #12 (the "Epilogue" to The King of Killers Arc), Frank Castle didn't lose his family in a tragic assassination that he's framed as the "heroic" reasons he kills: Maria was ready to divorce Frank and take the kids after Castle couldn't leave war and killing behind; in fact, the ill-fated picnic in the park where the Castle Family died was Maria's last gift to Frank: one final family outing to end on a good memory. Instead, she and the kids paid the Karmic price for Frank's violent ways. The resurrected Maria chooses not to waste a new life on Frank Castle again, instead using the Punisher's resources to set herself up with a new life.

While "The King of Killers" had plenty of big comic book ideas and spectacle, the more personal, character-driven look at Frank Castle/The Punisher is one of the most timely and profound ones we've seen. The character of The Punisher has become a big cultural lightning rod – down to the symbol he wears, which sparked mainstream headlines and cultural debates when Aaron and co. changed it for this story. "The King of Killers" forces Frank Castle to ultimately take much more accountability for the violence he's committed throughout his life – and what repercussions that violence has had, and continues to have on the world.

As Jason Aaron wrote (in part) in a letter at the end of the story: 

This has been the story of a war. 

This has been the story of the dissolution of a family. 

Since the characters first appearance in 1973, the ideas and symbols of The Punisher have come to mean many things to many different people. 

Some of those I agree with. Some I very much don't. 

A the end of the day, despite the complicated nature of the character, despite the changing times and disparate viewpoints, the story of Frank Castle is fundamentally one very simple thing:

A Tragedy. 

NEXT: Marvel Gives The Punisher A Bold New Status Quo

Punisher: The King of Killers is available at Marvel Comics.