Marvel just proved why Batman adopting the Punisher‘s approach to crime-fighting would be useless in only two pages. Frank Castle rejects the superhero community’s culture, constantly avoiding teams like the Avengers and the X-Men and treating the entire superhero apparatus with indifference or outright contempt. The Punisher doesn’t wear a costume to inspire hope, and he refuses to participate in traditional heroism unless a threat directly crosses his path. He views himself strictly as a ghost-like soldier fighting a necessary war against crime.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Batman’s role as the leader of an entire pantheon of god-like beings through sheer discipline makes him a living legend in the DC Universe. And unlike his more powerful teammates who guide the world with bright colors and flashy metahuman abilities, Batman imparts justice through urban terror, curating a terrifying public image to control the criminal underworld with psychological warfare. On top of that, the Dark Knight’s brilliant tactical mind constantly calculates exactly how to defeat every single one of his teammates and each of their enemies.
While Batman and the Punisher are on opposite sides of the heroism spectrum, and even though their strategies couldn’t be more different, they share the same frustration.
Jigsaw’s Return Proves Killing The Joker Would Be Useless
Punisher #5; Written By Benjamin Percy; Art By Jose Luis Soares, Sergio Davila, Oren Junior, Jonas Trindade, And Frank D’Armata
After pushing through the painful physical and psychological effects of brainwashing to topple Wilson Fisk and Lonnie Lincoln, Frank Castle struggles to contain Billy Russo, who comes back with a thirst for blood and highly advanced masks that let him impersonate people flawlessly. Jigsaw fills the power vacuum left behind by Kingpin and Tombstone, and he threatens to slice Frank Castle’s face clean off, apparently to commit heinous crimes as the Punisher. Never in the Punisher’s decades-long comic book history has Frank Castle’s archnemesis been so ruthless.
Jigsaw’s promise to cut Frank Castle’s face off to impersonate him is eerily familiar. In DC’s 2011 Heart of Hush, Thomas Elliot devises a twisted plan to ruin Batman’s life by kidnapping Catwoman, ripping her heart out, and performing surgery on himself to resemble Bruce Wayne, with the intention of impersonating the face of Wayne Enterprises. Hush’s plan ultimately backfires, as the Bat-Family capture Thomas Elliot and use his resemblance to Bruce Wayne to help Batman during a personal crisis and strip Thomas of his wealth. Unfortunately, Jigsaw is much more volatile than Hush and the Punisher doesn’t have an extensive web of allies.
Marvel Officially Confirms The Punisher’s Next Starring Role After His 2026 Series
The Punisher has one more starring role left in 2026, with a new story where Frank Castle faces off against countless brutal villains in Manhattan.
More remarkably, Jigsaw’s return mirrors the Joker’s repeated attacks on Gotham after countless defeats at the hands of Batman. For his entire comic history, Batman’s no-kill rule has been criticized for its inefficacy. Bruce Wayne refuses to use deadly force on Gotham’s most ruthless criminals, which basically guarantees their eventual return. However, the Punisher is pathologically fixated on murdering all criminals he comes across, and he successfully overthrew Kingpin and Tombstone one right after the other. Yet, Jigsaw filled their vacuum almost immediately with an even bigger threat, rendering the Punisher’s murderous approach to crime-fighting futile.
Batman And The Punisher’s Crime-Fighting Approach Is Not As Simple As It Sounds
Marvel And DC Are Home To Unstoppable Villains
The philosophical divide between Batman’s strict code of non-lethal rehabilitation and the Punisher’s endless killing spree is complicated by the bizarre nature of their respective universes. On paper, Frank Castle’s permanent solutions seem like the logical answer to Gotham’s revolving door of criminals, while Bruce Wayne’s faith in the justice system is a noble ideal for cleaning up standard street-level criminal networks. However, both Marvel and DC are home to undefeatable and sometimes immortal supervillains. Incarcerating them and killing them ultimately bear the same results.
Marvel and DC antagonists can bypass death through cloning vats, Lazarus Pits, dark sorcery, demonic bargains, or multiversal variants, so the Punisher’s bullets are often no more permanent than Batman’s prison cells. The Joker and Jigsaw can be defeated in the most definitive way possible, but it’s only a matter of time until they inevitably come back, often more dangerous than ever before. Even worse for the Punisher, sacrificing his peace of mind doesn’t make his justice crusade more effective than Batman’s.
Which crime-fighting approach do you like best?
Punisher #5 is available June 17 from Marvel Comics.
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- Video Game(s)
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The Punisher (1990), The Punisher: The Ultimate Payback!, The Punisher (1993), The Punisher, The Punisher: No Mercy
- Created by
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Gerry Conway, John Romita Sr., Ross Andru
- Latest Film
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Punisher: War Zone
- Upcoming Films
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The Punisher Special Presentation
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- Created by
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Bob Kane, Bill Finger
- Latest Film
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The Batman
- Upcoming Films
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The Batman Part II