Will The MCU Change Punisher"s Logo? Controversy Explained

:0:0

With the Punisher properly joining the MCU in Daredevil: Born Again, it’s worth wondering how Marvel will approach his iconic logo. In recent years, the Marvel Comics anti-hero has become a subject of political controversy due to how certain groups have been using the character as a symbol of their views. So far, this issue has been primarily exclusive to the comics, but the timing of his small-screen return could make this concern relevant to the MCU as well.
Several years after playing the character in Netflix’s Daredevil show, Jon Bernthal is set to reprise the role in MCU Phase 5. Alongside Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock and Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk, Bernthal’s take on Frank Castle will appear in the upcoming Disney+ series, Daredevil: Born Again. Given the Punisher’s popularity, he’s quickly become of one Phase 5’s most anticipated additions to the MCU’s library of characters. As for how he’ll be utilized, the portrayal of the Punisher in the Netflix series creates an obvious blueprint for the Disney+ reboot to follow. However, recent developments have raised questions on whether or not Marvel should change one core element of the character, the skull logo.
The Punisher Isn't Using His Classic Skull Logo In Marvel Comics

Years ago, Marvel made a decision to abandon the famous skull emblem worn on the Punisher’s chest. Ever since his conception in the 1974 landmark comic, The Amazing Spider-Man #129, the logo has been an iconic part of the character. As time passed and his brand grew, the skull became synonymous with the Punisher. But in spite of that, Marvel no longer uses the original version. Beginning in 2022, Marvel began to employ a new incarnation of the emblem. Getting rid of the human skull, Marvel swapped it for something a bit more demonic in nature. Now, it has horns and tusks. For better or worse, these changes make it look quite distinct from the classic skull.
Why The Punisher Is Using A New Logo

Both in-universe and out, Marvel doesn’t have an official reason for the change, but how its arrival lines up with its current usage in political movements is unlikely to be a coincidence. Over the last few years, it’s been employed by various law enforcement groups, members of the military, and parliamentary organizations. It was also used during the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol. People and organizations using the Punisher as a symbol of what they stand for is a decision that was sharply criticized by the media, and even Marvel Comics writers associated with the character.
Gerry Conway, one of the Punisher’s co-creators, was quick to condemn the ways in which the Punisher has been celebrated. Conway said he was disturbed to see law enforcement officers appropriate imagery tied to a character like the Punisher. According to Conway, Frank Castle represents a “failure of the justice system” and “the reality some people can’t depend on institutions like the police or the military to act in a just and capable way.” To Conway, this has a lot to do with why these same institutions embracing the Punisher’s logo is so problematic.

[圖擷取自網路，如有疑問請私訊]