Benjamin Percy isn’t interested in softening Frank Castle.
“We can’t go polybag forever,” Percy said with a laugh, referring to Marvel’s recent Punisher: Red Band series (mostly an experiment in ultra-violent storytelling).
When we spoke on a crisp Halloween afternoon over Zoom, we talked about The End Times, but mostly we discussed what Percy is interested in doing with Marvel’s most controversial figure.
Even as that Red Band miniseries concludes, Percy is deeply interested in the very essence of the Castle character — steering The Punisher into a new ongoing series that launches in February.
“It’s not going to suddenly be a Disney book or anything,” Percy said. “It doesn’t become a Punisher musical.”
From Red Band to Prologue
Percy says the new series, drawn by José Luis Sora, continues directly from Red Band.
“You can think of Red Band as a prologue,” Percy said. “The first storyline is all about Jigsaw, one of my favorite Marvel baddies.”
The villain’s return, Percy noted, mirrors Frank’s shattered psyche: “If you think about Frank’s mind as being broken, sort of shattered into mosaic pieces — that sort of finds embodiment in Jigsaw himself. Perfect villain to align with when you’re picking up the pieces of your broken self.”
That psychological undercurrent ultimately defines Percy’s take on the character.
“My favorite Frank is the one Garth Ennis wrote — a demon, a monster,” Percy said. “Some good things might result from his behavior, but he’s doing terrible, terrible things.”
Visually, the new series draws from 1970s New York crime cinema.
“Every gutter has broken glass and hypodermic needles in it,” Percy said. “There’s graffiti everywhere, it’s a filthy city because that’s how Frank sees the world. And all the villains are grotesque. Everybody else in New York looks like a normal person — but the villains are warped reflections of Frank’s own inner grotesque quality.”
Courtesy of Marvel Comics.
Dirty Streets, Gritty Lines
To achieve that grim texture, Sora has retooled his own art.
“He changed his style just for this book,” Percy said. “It’s incredibly granular — no blank space. You’ve got crumpled tissues, rain, rats scuttling down alleyways. It’s a dirty, dirty place.”
That grit further extends to the storytelling tone.
“When I’m writing Punisher, I’m in noir crime territory,” Percy said. “I don’t want a bunch of superhero stuff happening in my Hunts books. There’s zero zaniness in Punisher.”
Honoring What Came Before
Still, Percy acknowledges the interconnected world of Marvel continuity, picking up threads from Jason Aaron’s run.
“He’s got the mark of the Hand on his back,” Percy said. “We directly address that. I’m a huge fan of everything Jason has written, so we’re taking the story in a new direction — but we’re not ignoring what came before.”
The Code at The Desk
For Percy, Punisher is as much horror as crime.
“In a way, it’s a horror story,” Percy said. “But it’s also a story about a man trying to make sense of his broken mind.”
Ultimately, Percy’s Punisher is about tearing down civilization through violence — bound by Percy’s fascination with fear, consequence, and redemption.
“There’s a fluidity to everything I do at the desk,” Percy said. “I write across genres and mediums, but each story has its own code.”
Whether chronicling a survivor’s newspaper in a world gone dark, or a vigilante stalking a rotting city, Percy continues to do what few writers can — find humanity in horror, and horror in the larger human condition.
Punisher is set to launch a new ongoing series on February 25, 2025.
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