| “ | I vowed there would be no more innocent victims like Uncle Ben while it was within my power to prevent them... by any means... even if others vilified me for it. | „ |
| ~ Peter Parker vowing to avenge his Uncle Ben and protect his loved ones as The Punisher. |
The Punisher, real name Peter Benjamin Parker, is the main protagonist of What If? Peter Parker became The Punisher, set within a comic book miniseries titled What If?, produced by Marvel Comics centered around hypothetical scenarios and alternate outcomes of important events in the Marvel Universe.
One such story found in the miniseries is titled What If? Peter Parker became The Punisher, which posits the question of what would happen if Peter Parker who in the mainstream 616 version is the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man instead became the ruthless antihero The Punisher. The story was written by Carl Potts and illustrated by Juanan Ramirez.
What Makes Him Magnificent?[]
- Has a tragic background with both of his parents being dead when he was young.
- As an amateur wrestler named the Masked Marvel, expertly defeats Crusher Hogan.
- Tracks down the man who killed his Uncle Ben by turning his own gun on him, killing him.
- Becomes a vigilante known as the Punishing-Spider, determined to prevent any more meaningless violence by any means necessary, regardless of public opinion.
- Photographs his escapades and sells his photos to the Daily Bugle.
- Saves countless lives as a vigilante.
- After a failed assassination attempt on the Green Goblin, Peter successfully engineers customized weaponry with plans to exterminate those who he deems as a threat to his loved ones.
- Systematically and tactically eliminates the Sinister Six with his customized weapons.
- Kills the Kingpin and is implied to have murdered his goons/miscellaneous thugs as well.
- Takes a requisite from being the Punisher out of shame for scaring his Aunt May due to his actions.
- Spares Green Goblin after he is revealed to be a dissociative Norman Osborn.
- After sparing Norman turned out to be a mistake, Peter tracks him down the Brooklyn Bridge when Osborn kidnaps Gwen Stacy.
- Subverts his 616 counterpart’s tragedy of watching his girlfriend Gwen Stacy die by killing the Green Goblin on the spot while successfully saving Gwen from falling to her death.
- Reveals his identity to Gwen and while visiting her in the hospital, vows to abandon his vigilante status due to shame for unintentionally getting those he loved caught in harm’s way.
- Retires as the Punisher to live a peaceful married life with Gwen.
What Makes Him a Baddie?[]
- Selfishly lets a mugger go who later kills his Uncle Ben and, after murdering the mugger, takes the gun for himself.
- Contrary to his mainstream counterpart who is selfless, pacifistic, and generally seen as a paragon in the Marvel Universe, this version is antiheroic, ruthless, and vilified by both the public and his loved ones.
- Becomes a vigilante serial killer with quite a few of his murders being especially cruel:
- Ripping out Vulture’s jet pack, sending him plummeting multiple stories to his death.
- Shooting Electro with enough EMPs to cause him to set on fire.
- Shooting Sandman with incendiary rounds, turning him into rapidly shattering glass.
- Crushes Mysterio's skull with his own hands.
- Multiple lines of dialogue indicate Peter has only slight guilt for murdering his enemies, and retires mainly out of guilt and selfishness.
- Lies to his loved ones about his violent actions while keeping his vigilante status a secret.
- Despite knowing the positive effects of his actions on lowering the crime rate and the consequences of violent crime on the innocent, Peter turns a blind eye to numerous gang wars across the city, justifying it as letting the "Hoods" kill each other.
- By virtue of his actions as the Punisher and carelessly leaving his costume in a back alley dumpster, Peter is implied to have inadvertently inspired Vietnam War veteran and former family man Frank Castle to take up his own violent crusade against crime after his wife, son and daughter were killed in a Central Park shooting by the mob.
Trivia[]
- So far, he is the only version of Peter Parker to count as a Magnificent Baddie.
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 Magnificent Baddies
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