In the Warzone version, Frank Castle (The Punisher) has taken a darker turn down the killing road. He no longer justly kills, he just kills and ends up killing an FBI agent who was undercover. This is where I lost interest. Castle always justly killed and knew who he was killing. He knew what they had done and knew that the system would not properly punish them and therefore needed to be justly dealt with. An itchy trigger finger is not what the Punisher is about and unfortunatley the film lost that concept.
The Punisher understands that he can do what the law or no other superhero can do and that is kill. If you've had a chance to play the new Mortal Kombat vs. DC game, you would see that every superhero's finisher only wounded the other competitor because heroes don't kill. It's what seperates them from the villians. It's the line the Joker continually tried to get Batman to cross in The Dark Knight. The Punisher, however, can cross that line because he has chosen to be willing to kill his enemies. Batman, Superman, Green Lantern (until recently), and the Flash are not willing to kill. They believe that line is something that should never be crossed. Especially Batman and Superman. Surprisingly a majority of Marvel's characters do not have the same code.
In the Warzone Castle meets with a priest in the church before the climatic scene and the priest says, "Frank, for with the judgement you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get." Frank replies quietly, "Matthew 7:2. I'm okay with that." First, kudos to Castle to know his Bible verses. Second, Castle has come to terms with his fate and his choice. He is willing to cast judgment and punishment onto others knowing that he will receive just judgment for it. And the superhero world needs him for it.
Almost 4 years ago my Christian Ethics class in seminary discussed several extreme issues: Abortion, Euthanasia, Mental Health, Pacifism, and Just War. The first three were pretty tame discussions and honestly the easier ones to deal with, in my opinion. The final two are a bit more extreme and harder to discuss. Many people get defensive or angry if you say that Christians particular should be pacifist and that no war is just. And of course, that is where the conversation ended up going at times in class.
One person asked if, after all peaceful options have been explored, do we still not go to war? If not what do we do with countries or people who act unjust and violently towards others?" In short, call The Punisher. All joking aside, these issues are lead us back to The Punisher and other superheroes. When dealing with Just War and Pacifism it is not about what the nation should do but what the Church should do.
Should the Church participate in violence? Should Christians justly kill? I would say no to the first. Superman would never condone or support The Punisher. That's probably why one exists in the DC Universe and the other in Marvel's universe. The Church should never participate in violence or support violent acts. They should not ever support acts of killing that include innocent civilians and solidiers because the Church is the bridesmaid of Christ who valued human life and never took it, even if it meant losing his.
I know I am probably going to receive backlash over that statement above. That is fine and it is expected. But it is the truth. And you can use Scriptures to support war but you cannot use Scriptures to argue that the Church should.
Now, the second question is difficult to answer. Most people fall on the far end of the spectrum regarding "Should Christians justly kill?" Some are adamantly against that idea, others strongly say yes. I fall right into the middle. I fall into the middle because I have friends who have taken lives, some justly, some unjustly. Some have killed because they were high or robbing a place. Some probably took lives in the line of duty as service men and women. Some have lost loved ones to the act of violence.
What The Punisher teaches is that if the Church starts down the path of violence, if Christians chose to participate in violence and the act of killing, justly or not, the road only gets darker. While I believe The Punisher: Warzone lost sight of what The Punisher really is about, the movie does show what can happen when you choose to go down the road of death and destruction. The Warzone Punisher is not the same Punisher who first appeared in Spider-Man. He has become a darker, more violent version of himself. As Castle says, "You do not to go down this road."
But if Christians choose to participate in violence we need to be willing to give up everything. That is something we often forget. We forget when choose to live within the extremes of either life or death, we give up something. Until Christians learn to trust in creative responses to violence and death, until we learn to act creatively and live outside of extremes, we will always need The Punisher.
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