50 GREATEST FICTIONAL BADASSES #19

#19 – FRANK CASTLE from The Punisher comic books. They’ve made three films and has his own TV show. I’m the only one I know that kind of likes the Dolph Lundgren version. The Thomas Jane one was crap — even though the short film he made a couple of years ago was pretty good. And I liked the Ray Stevenson one. His stint on DAREDEVIL was the cat’s meow and I haven’t seen the first season of his own show yet.  The comics, like the movies, maintain a “hit and miss” quality to them. I always snicker a little when they “guest-star” him on a Saturday morning cartoon, like Spider-Man or The Super Hero Squad Show.

I like Frank when he’s sure of what he is: violent, angry, vengeful. The concept is simple enough and works best at it’s lowest common denominator. I’ve heard him called a “right-wing fantasy”, but I never felt the need to politicize a character like this. Basic human traits and desires — revenge, rage, self-indulgence — should never be politicized because they’re way above that kind of sophomoric labeling. Our better angels tell us we survive tragedy by moving on; Frank Castle tells us part of us will always want the guilty to suffer. 

“You’re a monster, and I’m killing you. It’s not complicated.”