Frank Castle A.K.A. The Punisher.

A vigilante hero who steps on the wrong side of law when ridding crime from the Marvel Universe and has successfully reached a massive fan-base with his dark and grim history. But a current discussion within Comicvine that asks about Punishers past being changed raises a unique question. Would Punisher still be famous if he wasn’t in Vietnam?

With that said, there comes the rare Punisher story known as “Born” that really defined Punishers history prior to his war against crime as the Punisher. Even though “Born” really convinced fans that Vietnam was the type of war that could build Punishers dark personality and vendetta, it could also be possible that a different origin could still build Punishers hatred for crime and maintain his fame with the fans. From being a simple patrol man to an employee at a local factory, it may be possible that whatever Frank Castle was before may not have any changes towards his current status (depending on who’s writing the story). But seeing how Marvel fans have loved and known Punisher as a man who stepped out of Vietnam before his vigilante career, we would never the true answer to the question.

But why is the media and other Punisher stories try to steer away from Punishers involvement with Vietnam?

From a few theories as to how Punisher’s origin is slowly being removed from Vietnam, first would involve the fact that Vietnam is a very sensitive and tragic war that many Americans were forced to fight in. Even though Vietnam wasn’t the source for Punisher’s character, it’s a fact that some would see differently. Much like the controversy for the film known as Rambo: First Blood, some viewers (mostly veterans) would probably see Punisher as a veteran who’s on a blood-thirsty rampage and out of control, even though that’s hardly the case. Another would be the time setting between now and when Vietnam took place, seeing how Punisher films took place within modern time, it would be hard to explain as to how Punisher is in his 70’s or 80’s when he’s obviously being played by an actor who hasn’t reached his 40’s or 50's yet. But from fearing controversy to unexplained timelines, we would never know as to why Marvel and the media tends to steer Punisher away from his Vietnam origins.

A solid character within Marvel Comics, Punisher has sat on several mistakes from Marvel writers and it could possibly be that his Vietnam origin and his current age may just be another hiccup that Marvel has accidentally created. Personally I believe that Punisher could still survive and be as famous as he currently is without his involvement in Vietnam, even though changing Punishers past now would probably receive a lot of disgruntle fans and a decrease with Comic sales. But despite what fans believe, Punisher was famous for what he did as the Punisher, not his involvement within Vietnam. Despite how many people think that Vietnam served his dark natured psychology, just about any man could step into that mindset because of a certain level of trauma and developed hatred.       

" @MTHarman:  
But why is the media and other Punisher stories try to steer away from Punishers involvement with Vietnam?    Because it dates the character, and the further you get from Vietnam the less relevant it is to his backstory.  I honestly think him being in Vietnam is rather inconsequential.  The only really important part of his origin is that his family was gunned down and he became the Punisher to kill those responsible. "

He doesnt have to have a floating age like every other character in Marvel. Let him be unique. If They want to change his  back story, they should do it in the inferior 616 stories, but leave the max series backstory alone.  And it is absoloutley essential he be  a Vietnam veteran. Thats his war. 

Steve Rogers/Frank Castle.
 
Same man, different war.

The Vietnam War was a very strange and unique conflict for America, and Frank Castle is inextricably a product of that war. You can (and probably should) ignore the fact that he should be in his sixties now, but you can't just flat out contradict it.

You know Frank usually gets his hands on some pretty interesting tech, could it be possible that Frank might have gotten himself injected with the Infinity Serum like Fury so he as basically stopped aging. It would explain why he doesn't get older and it is something that is believable.

" You know Frank usually gets his hands on some pretty interesting tech, could it be possible that Frank might have gotten himself injected with the Infinity Serum like Fury so he as basically stopped aging. It would explain why he doesn't get older and it is something that is believable. "

Of course he can, after all, if I'm not mistaken, Noir Punisher was a World War I veteran and I still think he's pretty bad @$$.

"The Vietnam War was a very strange and unique conflict for America, and Frank Castle is inextricably a product of that war. You can (and probably should) ignore the fact that he should be in his sixties now, but you can't just flat out contradict it.

"

" Of course he can, after all, if I'm not mistaken, Noir Punisher was a World War I veteran and I still think he's pretty bad @$$. "

They changed his age after the bloodstone healed him from being Franken-Castle. He's back to his early 30s from the healing process.

"They changed his age after the bloodstone healed him from being Franken-Castle. He's back to his early 30s from the healing process. "

" They changed his age after the bloodstone healed him from being Franken-Castle. He's back to his early 30s from the healing process. "