Plot
Frank Castle becomes an officer in the NYPD SWAT team after leaving the U.S. Marine Corps. Rather than falling victim to a gangland slaying, Castle's wife and children are instead killed when caught in the middle of a battle between the Avengers, the X-Men, and a group of Brood and other aliens in Central Park. Castle arrives to find his family dead, and Daredevil berating Cyclops and Captain America for their carelessness.
As Castle grieves, none of the heroes are willing to admit their fault in the deaths, until finally Cyclops attempts to apologize. Enraged, Castle opens fire on the assembled heroes, killing Cyclops, Hawkeye, and Shadowcat. He is then attacked and wounded by Wolverine, and only survives due to the intervention of Colossus.
After recovering from his injuries, Castle is put on trial for triple-homicide. His attorney is Matt Murdock, who recognizes Castle as the man who rescued him from a gang of ruffians when they were both boys (the two characters did not know each other as children in the normal Marvel universe). Despite Murdock's defense, Castle is sentenced to life imprisonment.
When the prison van taking him to jail stops, Castle finds himself at the mountain mansion of a rich but hideously disfigured old man named Kesselring. Kesselring introduces Castle to his associates, other disfigured and brain-damaged individuals, who reveal that they were maimed in the crossfire of superhero/supervillain battles. They will provide Castle with all the resources he will need if he will destroy every superhuman on earth. Thirsting for revenge, Castle agrees and becomes the Punisher.
With the help of Microchip, a former member of the US Air Force whose legs were pulled off by Doctor Octopus, the Punisher sets about his mission. He begins by trapping Spider-Man and Venom in the sewers and killing them while they are fighting one another. The Hulk is killed after his latest rampage, while his alter-ego Bruce Banner is recovering in an alleyway, located by Castle using a dart-gun tracking transmitter.
Castle is captured and jailed on several occasions, but is broken out each time by Kesselring. During these periods he is visited by Murdock, who pleads for Castle to stop the slaughter.
He kills Doctor Doom, then lures the various mutant super-teams to the moon and wipes them out with one of Doom's nuclear missiles. The Fantastic Four and the Avengers are also disposed of. Wolverine and Captain America are killed in one-on-one confrontations. Castle eventually exterminates nearly all of the Marvel Universe, including Ghost Rider, Black Panther, and Nick Fury among others.
Growing weary of all the killings, Castle tells Kesselring that he never expects to hear from him again once his assignment is complete. Kesselring tells him that the Punisher's crusade will never be complete, as a new generation of heroes will inevitably rise, and must be halted. When Kesselring pulls a gun, the Punisher kills him. He then tells Kesselring's associates that their need for vengeance has made them bitter and pathetic, leaving with the threat of killing them all if any of them try to contact him. He then leaves to complete his assignment by killing Daredevil.
After a battle, Castle is wounded after falling off a roof. Daredevil tells Castle that he does not need to live through his pain, and begs for him to let it go. Not listening, Castle fatally stabs Daredevil through the chest. Before he dies, Daredevil removes his mask and Castle is shocked to see the face of Matt Murdock, who tells him that "there's always a man behind the mask" with his dying breath. Realizing he has become the very thing he swore to destroy, the Punisher makes one final kill: himself.
Doctor Doom is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Fantastic Four #5. The monarch of the fictional nation of Latveria, Doom primarily serves as the archenemy of Reed Richards and the Fantastic Four. He has also come into conflict with other superheroes in the Marvel Universe, including Spider-Man, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, the X-Men, and the Avengers. He has also been portrayed as an antihero at times, working with the heroes if their goals align and only if it benefits him.
Wolverine is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, mostly in association with the X-Men. He is a mutant with animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, a powerful regenerative ability known as a healing factor, and three retractable claws in each hand. Wolverine has been depicted as a member of the X-Men, X-Force, Alpha Flight, the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers.
The Punisher 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, originally depicted as an assassin and adversary of the superhero Spider-Man.
Elektra Natchios is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Frank Miller, the character first appeared in Daredevil #168. She is a love interest of the superhero Matt Murdock / Daredevil, but her violent nature and mercenary lifestyle divide the two, before she ultimately becomes the second Daredevil in 2020.
The Kingpin is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr., and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #50. The "Kingpin" name is a reference to the crime lord title in Mafia slang nomenclature.
Marvel Knights is an imprint of Marvel Comics that contained standalone material taking place inside the Marvel Universe (Earth-616). The imprint originated in 1998 when Marvel outsourced four titles to Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti's company Event Comics; Event hired the creative teams for the Knights line while Marvel published them.
Mephisto is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Silver Surfer #3, and was created by Stan Lee and John Buscema and based on Mephistopheles – a demon character from the Faust legend, who has sometimes been referred to as Mephisto. Introduced as a recurring adversary of the Silver Surfer and Johnny Blaze, the second incarnation of the Ghost Rider, Mephisto has also endured as one of Spider-Man's most prominent adversaries, being responsible for Norman and Harry Osborn's respective transformations into the Green Goblin and Kindred; and for the superhero's loss of his marriage to Mary-Jane Watson, considering their future daughter Spider-Girl his archenemy. Mephisto has often come into conflict with Doctor Strange, Doctor Doom, Scarlet Witch and other heroes of the Marvel Universe, being responsible both for the creation of the Cosmic Ghost Rider and the descents of Phil Coulson and Otto Octavius into villainy.
Bullseye is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Marv Wolfman and John Romita Sr.. A psychopathic assassin, Bullseye uses the opportunities afforded by his line of work to exercise his homicidal tendencies and to work out his own personal vendetta against Daredevil. He is also an enemy of the Punisher. Although he possesses no superpowers, Bullseye is able to use almost any object as a lethal projectile, be it weapons like shuriken and sai or seemingly harmless objects like playing cards and pencils. His marksmanship is uncanny, at a nearly supernatural level.
Razor Fist is the name of three fictional supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The original Razor Fist was killed off in the comic books many years ago. The next two characters to take the title were brothers. The current Razor Fist is the only surviving brother.
The Hand is a supervillain organization appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Hand first appeared in Daredevil #174 and was created by writer/artist Frank Miller.
Secret War is a 2004–2005 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics, consisting of a central, five-issue miniseries written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Gabriele Dell'Otto, and a number of tie-in books. It is loosely based on classified operations told to Bendis by an anonymous high-ranking officer in the United States Intelligence Community during Bendis' childhood.
Stilt-Man is the name of multiple different supervillains in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Bushwacker (Carl Burbank) is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as an adversary to the superhero, Daredevil, and less frequently to the Punisher and Wolverine.
The Marvel Mangaverse is a series of comic books published by Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2002, with a sequel "New Mangaverse" released in 2006.
The Hood is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Brian K. Vaughan, and artists Kyle Hotz and Eric Powell, the character was introduced in his own self-titled limited series, which started with Hood #1. Robbins was originally a petty criminal, until an encounter with a Nisanti demon, which he defeated and robbed of its hood and boots, gaining superpowers in the process, such as levitation and invisibility. As "the Hood", he became a well-known figure in the New York City criminal underworld, and eventually formed his own crime syndicate.
Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness is a five-issue 2007 comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics in association with Dynamite Entertainment, an intercompany crossover in which Ash Williams, hero of the popular Evil Dead film and comic book, finds himself in the Marvel Zombies setting, a world of flesh-eating zombified Marvel Comics heroes.
Daredevil: End of Days is an American comic book miniseries featuring the Marvel Comics character Daredevil, written by Brian Michael Bendis and David W. Mack, drawn by Klaus Janson, inked by Bill Sienkiewicz and with covers by Alex Maleev. Mack, Sienkiewicz and Maleev also contribute occasional interiors and splash pages throughout the series. It concerns the death of Daredevil, not unlike previous "Marvel: The End" miniseries, which told the final stories of other Marvel Comics characters.
Daredevil is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Daredevil #1. Writer/artist Frank Miller's influential tenure on the title in the early 1980s cemented the character as a popular and influential part of the Marvel Universe. Daredevil is commonly known by such epithets as "Hornhead", "The Man Without Fear", and "The Devil of Hell's Kitchen".
Dark Reign is a 2008 to 2009 comic book branding used by Marvel Comics. It deals with the aftermath of the "Secret Invasion" storyline, which leads to a shift of power in the Marvel Universe toward Norman Osborn. The title refers to Osborn's rise to national power and the ramifications thereof. Joe Quesada, then-editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, stated that "Dark Reign is not really an event, it's what's happening in the Marvel Universe." He believes that "Dark Reign leads to an interesting place in the Marvel Universe. I think you'll see a pulling back at the end of Dark Reign, but you'll understand at the end of it what we were trying to get to."
