Warning: contains spoilers for Punisher #11!Frank Castle’s crusade as the Punisher has led him down a dark path that’s left behind an endless trail of bodies, and now he's finally being punished for the destruction he’s caused by the last person he’d ever expect. Castle has been killing countless numbers of criminals he deems deserving of death for years. He claims his mission is to make sure no innocent suffers the way he and his family did the day they were gunned down while on a family picnic, but many stories have suggested this is just an excuse for unleashing his inner darkness.
Throughout Jason Aaron and Paul Azaceta’s current run on Punisher, Frank Castle has expanded his operation to global heights as the leader of the Hand organization. The mystics of the Hand have resurrected Frank’s wife Maria as thanks for his leadership, and she’s remained within the Hand’s secret compound ever since. In issue #11, Maria finally decides to research her husband’s activities since her death and finds that he’s been killing hundreds in his family’s name. Enraged by this revelation, Maria meets with Frank and guns him down, claiming that the man she married died in Central Park along with his family, and that the only thing left before her is the Punisher.
Punisher's Wife Finally Knows About His Mission
This run on the Punisher has characterized Frank Castle as a spouse who was distant from his wife and children long before their deaths in Central Park. Because of this, Maria was about to ask for a divorce before she was murdered, and now she has grown to hate her husband due to his mass killings. What angers her and finally pushes her to take action against him is the fact that Frank’s one-man war was all in the name of their children Lisa and Frank Castle Jr.
Punisher's Wife Is the Last Enemy He Ever Expected
What makes this turn of events even more tragic is that Frank had finally decided to stop his war on crime, only to seemingly meet his end by the one person he considered to be his "home." It’s unlikely that Maria has succeeded in killing her husband, but there’s no telling how Frank will be affected by knowing his wife would rather kill him than allow him to live after killing thousands as an act of vengeance for her. Frank lost Maria before, but she is even more lost to him now as he’s become an enemy in her eyes. This leaves Punisher nowhere to go but back to the Hand, who wish to use him as their ultimate instrument of evil.
On top of Frank’s wife trying to kill him, Daredevil is also on the warpath to end the Hand organization once and for all. Similar to Maria, Daredevil is fully prepared to kill the Punisher in order to do so. The fact that the non-lethal Devil of Hell’s Kitchen and the person closest to Frank are both trying to kill him indicates that Frank has finally gone too far to ever be forgiven. Perhaps the Punisher will finally see the error of his ways as his wife has become his ultimate foil, or maybe he’s become too much of a monster, crossing even his own moral line by working for the Hand.
Punisher #11 is on sale now from Marvel Comics!
