Warning: this text accommodates full spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again Episode 3! If you haven’t already, make sure to take a look at IGN’s assessment of Episode 3.
Daredevil: Born Again is bound delivering some riveting superhero tv, even when Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock appears completely decided to not put the pink armor again on. Episode 3 serves as a tense, high-stakes authorized drama, as Matt defends his consumer Hector Ayala (Kamar de los Reyes) in court docket in opposition to costs of murdering an NYPD officer. That story takes a tragic flip ultimately, as Hector is exonerated and freed solely to be gunned down by a vigilante carrying the Punisher cranium.
That twist ending raises a vastly essential query. Was that really Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle who killed Hector? What does it imply if The Punisher has immediately began concentrating on costumed vigilantes? And the place does the White Tiger storyline go from right here? Let’s discover the massive questions lingering after Episode 3’s dramatic cliffhanger.
Did The Punisher Kill White Tiger?
In Episode 3, Hector Ayala is placed on trial for supposedly murdering an undercover police officer. While the reality is that Hector was merely making an attempt to be an excellent samaritan in a state of affairs gone horribly awry, Matt Murdock faces a steep uphill battle in convincing a jury of Hector’s innocence. Only by taking “a giant swing” and outing Hector’s function as White Tiger does Matt handle to show the tide in Hector’s favor.
Unfortunately, that act proves to be Hector’s undoing. Hector makes it clear he has no intention of giving up his nightly vigilante actions, regardless of the big goal the trial has painted on his again. No sooner does Hector resume patrolling the streets than he’s gunned down, executioner-style, by a rogue determine carrying a bulletproof vest adorned with the long-lasting Punisher cranium.
Again, the query right here is whether or not that was truly Frank Castle who pulled the set off. To date, Frank has principally shied away from the superhuman aspect of the MCU, preferring to focus on peculiar criminals and corrupt officers. Targeting costumed vigilantes would undoubtedly function a serious shift in Frank’s strategies and motivations.
That’s to not say that Punisher has by no means directed his wrath at costumed villains within the comics. Matt Fraction’s Punisher: War Journal is one notable instance of a collection the place Frank grows fed up with the harm attributable to the supervillains of the Marvel Universe and directs his wrath at males like Hate-Monger and Kraven the Hunter. But this clarification would require that Frank views White Tiger as a villain who evaded justice. Does The Punisher see White Tiger as a cop killer? Did Hector cross an unforgivable line in Frank’s eyes?
Historically, Marvel has by no means been that constant on the subject of depicting Frank Castle’s opinion of the police. When it involves navy service members, it’s a unique story. Frank holds a transparent, fierce respect for many who threat their lives to serve their nation like he did. Captain America – the last word soldier – is the one superhero Frank reveres.
But as for the police, issues differ from one interpretation of the character to a different. In the traditional Marvel Universe, Frank usually goes out of his option to keep away from concentrating on cops, even crooked cops. But within the Ultimate Universe, Punisher is an ex-cop himself who particularly targets corrupt officers.
Based on Frank’s earlier appearances in Daredevil: Season 2 and The Punisher spinoff collection, it doesn’t appear as if Bernthal’s Frank Castle holds any particular affection or respect for the police. Certainly, it’s laborious to think about him switching up his strategies to particularly goal a vigilante acquitted of killing a cop. Frank’s beef with males like Daredevil and White Tiger has all the time been that they don’t go far sufficient of their strategies. So it appears laborious to imagine that Frank is the one who shot Hector in Episode 3. Instead, there’s one other, more likely risk.
Is This Punisher a Copycat Killer?
Frankly (no pun meant), there’s a motive we don’t see the killer’s face on the finish of Episode 3. The collection desires us to query whether or not Frank Castle would stoop to killing White Tiger, however the fact is that this almost definitely isn’t Frank. It’s most likely a copycat killer.
The collection has already established that The Punisher has developed a little bit of a fan following amongst members of the NYPD. We’ve seen a number of cops sporting tattoos of the Punisher cranium, together with Brian D. Cohen’s Detective Flynn. These cops appear to idolize Frank and the best way he takes the regulation into his personal fingers, meting out a really deadly type of justice to criminals in New York. Clearly, they’d like nothing greater than to observe in his footsteps. And primarily based on how Episode 3 ends, it could appear one in all these cops has executed simply that.
It’s clear the collection is diving headlong into addressing real-world controversies surrounding the Punisher character. The Punisher cranium has certainly been appropriated by some cops and navy members who fetishize Frank Castle’s ruthless model of vigilante justice. The connection was arguably cemented by the late Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, who was recognized for adorning his gear with the Punisher emblem and even nicknaming his unit “The Punishers.” In current years, the Punisher emblem has additionally been adopted by the Blue Lives Matter movement.
Marvel Comics has addressed this phenomenon prior to now. 2019’s The Punisher #13 contains a scene the place an injured Frank Castle is approached by two NYPD officers who reveal themselves to be rabid followers. To their shock, Frank reacts with disgust, telling them, “We’re not the identical. You took an oath to uphold the regulation. I gave all that up a very long time in the past. You do not do what I do. Nobody does.”
With Born Again, Marvel appears to be addressing the Punisher cranium controversy on a wider, extra seen scale. We know Bernthal might be reprising his function within the collection, and there’s no motive to imagine the character’s response to the concept of NYPD officers co-opting his picture and mission might be any totally different than the comedian ebook model. It’s fully doable that Frank pushing again in opposition to this fanatical obsession with The Punisher will kind the idea of the not too long ago introduced Punisher Disney+ particular.
“There is a Frank Castle storyline that’s, I believe, deep and wealthy and has been begging to be advised,” showrunner Dario Scardapane told IGN in a current roundtable interview. “It was in one of many comics, however Frank’s look shouldn’t be random. It comes again to [the] query of who’s a vigilante, who’s good, who’s unhealthy, and Frank is a type of extremely galvanizing characters. And Frank comes into our world with a goal. That goal is executed. Does it have one thing to do with these males that we see in [Nicky Torres’] house? Yes.”
It’s all the time doable that Episode 4 will reveal Frank did certainly kill Hector, fueling a renewed battle between Frank and Matt. But at this stage, it appears more likely that New York City has a rising Punisher drawback. Certain members of the police idolize The Punisher, and that’s one thing Frank goes to must confront.
Will White Tiger’s Story Continue within the MCU?
But what of White Tiger and the Ayala household? Is this the tip of a comparatively new addition to the MCU’s lineup of New York-based heroes? Probably not.
With the White Tiger storyline, Born Again is drawing a good bit of inspiration from Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev’s Daredevil comics. Similar to the present, the comics depict Hector as a vigilante wrongfully accused of homicide. In this case, Hector is shot useless by the police whereas making an attempt to flee, just for proof to floor proving his innocence.
Following Hector’s loss of life, his Jade Tiger amulets are handed right down to his niece, FBI agent Angela Del Toro. She reluctantly turns into the brand new White Tiger and is skilled by Daredevil himself. Later, the amulets and mantle cross on to Hector’s teenage sister, Ava.
While the collection’ focus in Episode 3 is on Hector and his beleaguered spouse, Soledad (Ashley Marie Ortiz), we be taught the couple was staying with Hector’s sister and her daughter, Angela. It’s simple to image a situation the place Angela inherits her uncle’s amulet and continues his mission of defending the harmless civilians of the Bronx. Angela could also be a mash-up of the Angela Del Toro and Ava Ayala characters from the comics.
If that occurs, we think about Matt Murdock may have a vested curiosity in defending and mentoring the brand new White Tiger. He failed to guard Hector. His resolution to out Hector’s White Tiger id could have contributed not directly to the vigilante’s loss of life. Matt Murdock is nothing if not a person pushed by guilt, and we suspect he’s not executed atoning for his failure with Hector.
What about you? Do you suppose Frank Castle killed the White Tiger, or is that this the work of a copycat killer? Vote in our ballot and tell us what you suppose within the feedback under.
For extra on Daredevil: Born Again, see the solid and crew break down Episode 1’s tragic twist and brush up on each Marvel film and collection in growth.
Jesse is a mild-mannered employees author for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your mental thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.
