Warning: Spoilers for Punisher #3!
The Marvel Comics anti-hero known as Punisher has recently become the leader of the evil cult named the Hand, and with it has come the power to bring back from the dead the people he cares about most: his family. Frank Castle may finally be getting what he’s always longed for, but if his resurrected wife’s recent behavior is of any indication, he may want to rethink his options.
As seen in Punisher #3, by writers Jason Aaron, Jesus Saiz, & Paul Azaceta, and artist Dave Stuart, this issue picks up with Punisher aka Frank Castle as he contends with the revival of his long-dead wife, Maria. Revealed to have no memories of what went down the day she and her children were gunned down in Central Park years ago, Maria has been acting out of sorts ever since the power of the demonic entity at the center of the Hand, called the Beast, brought her back to life.
Doing his best to conceal Maria’s final fate from her while also brushing off the constant questions about their children, Punisher is at a loss when trying to console her after she freaks out and exclaims, “We left our kids at the park!!!” Subduing her with a tonic that knocks her out, Punisher assures his wife, “The kids will be home soon,” and it’s here, with this subtle insinuation, that fans realize Punisher is about to get everything he ever wanted, just with a dark twist.
Entering the chamber where the presence of the Beast is made known, Frank’s narration gives readers a little backstory about the Beast, culminating with the thought of how “…in the greatest of his many abominations…the Beast came to turn the dead into the living.” Simultaneously told by his subordinate, “Tell the Beast how much you miss your children,” the art zooms out to show Punisher standing over two children-sized coffins, a troubled expression etched across his face, showing that while Frank may be about to reunite his family, he’s quite literally working with a devil (or what amounts to one) to do so.
Having his loved ones ripped away from him in a hail of gunfire and splashes of blood has been a defining moment for this Marvel Comics anti-hero ever since the beginning. And while bringing his family back to life is all well and good for Frank, the implications of doing so via demonic means clearly has the potential to negatively affect their minds, as Frank’s wife isn’t exactly thinking, remembering, or acting right at the current moment. Throw in the fact that it seems like Frank knows what he’s doing is wrong (or at the very least an unethical thing to be doing as it’s more for his own needs rather than those of the people he’s reviving), and the thought that his children may come back a little different than before ensures that Frank will surely be getting what he wants, but not exactly the way he originally envisioned.
Frank Castle is a man with a mean streak that usually can’t be satiated, and now with the prospect of having his entire family alive and (somewhat) well again thanks to the demonic machinations of the Beast, his thirst for mayhem and murder will no doubt reach untold levels of bloodshed. Punisher deserves to have his family back in his life, but at what cost?
Punisher #3 is available now from Marvel Comics.