Summary
- Frank Castle respects Captain America’s military service and idealism.
- Captain America views Frank Castle as a dangerous vigilante and a maniac.
- Despite their differences, both Frank Castle and Captain America have respect for each other’s values.
To many people, Frank Castle is a maniac with too many guns. But also in the Marvel Universe is Steve Rogers, the last bastion of what used to be great about America. The two could not be further from each other, and yet Frank Castle sees Captain America as an untouchable hero.
What is it about this bloodthirsty killer that feels the need to put Captain America on a pedestal? How could the two of them have anything in common? And does Captain America have the same respect for the Punisher? The answers lie in the comics, where the facts speak for themselves.
Let’s Look at Steve Rogers and Frank Castle
Frank Castle is a stone-cold killer. He is a military veteran who decided to use his skills to kill criminals when his family was gunned down in a mafia crossfire. He is one of the outliers of the Marvel heroes, perhaps the biggest example of an anti-hero the universe has. Many heroes have been known to swap sides occasionally, but the Punisher has had a specific mission his entire career and sticks to it. Kill the bad guys wherever he can find them, regardless of their level or type of infraction. He dishes out his form of justice and never wavers, regardless of what the other heroes think.
Steve Rogers Is An Ideal Hero
Although not averse to killing if it needs to happen, Captain America is held up as the ideal soldier. He wears the red, white, and blue with pride and has the ideals of a different generation. The entire reason he was given the mantle was because of his innate goodness and idealism. He has killed his fair share of bad guys, mostly Nazis, but it is important to be a protector, not a mercenary. Although Captain America has made questionable decisions in his career, he always seems to come back to the good guys and is a born leader that teams like the Avengers are willing to follow into battle.
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The Moment the Punisher and Captain America Clashed
During the original Civil War run, Captain America had his group of heroes that were on his side fighting against Tony Stark/Iron Man and his cronies. As they went about their clandestine operations, they were being followed by the Punisher, who was watching them closely. When Goldbug and the Plunderer were captured and brought in, Frank took his guns and shot them to death. It was a violent moment that shocked all the heroes in the room, who were not only covered in blood but had no time to react to what had happened.
The second the dust cleared it was Captain America who reacted. He attacked Frank, calling him a maniac and punching him until he was essentially broken. He goaded Frank to fight back, yelling at him and asking why he wouldn’t fight back. Frank simply took the punches. He lay in a bloody pulp. Captain America walks away in disgust as the heroes wonder why Frank wouldn’t fight back. Spider-Man has the answer.
“Cap’s probably the reason he went to Vietnam. Same guy, different war.”
Cap disagrees, saying that, “Frank Castle is insane.” It is a tough moment. Captain America is furious with how the situation played out. However, Frank is, in his own way, an idealist. He sees Captain America as the truest version of a military man. He fought the good fight, what some might see as the best fight. He fought in an honorable war against a clear foe, the Nazis, that everyone cheered him for fighting.
Frank fought in Vietnam and was trained to kill in a war that many people would not support against people he had no issue with. It left him jaded, angry, and without the moral compass he thinks he possesses. Frank sees Steve Rogers as that compass, a man who fought and still fights with unimpeachable focus. He thinks he is living up to that mindset even though he seems to have taken all the wrong lessons away from the situation.
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Respect the Uniform, Respect the Man
One thing to remember is that Captain America is technically part of the Army Rangers while Frank Castle is a marine. This is sometimes seen as putting them at odds but, even then, you can see instances in the comics where Captain America has goaded young marine Frank Castle (during his military training) to hit him. In fact, he orders him to do so.
“Oh no. No, sir. I really don’t think I can do that.”
It is not a matter of fear. Fear is often uncontrollable. Frank Castle does not fear Captain America. He respects Steve Rogers. He respects that he signed up for active duty. He respects what he went through to be the ideal soldier. He even respects the fact that Steve is a great yet sometimes reluctant leader. But he does not fear him. When someone is a paragon of everything you believe in, you stand down and sometimes even let them hit you. You take it because you know that you could never dirty the honorable person before you.
