equinoxx.info: Frank And Spidey

I am not as all-in on Marvel TV and movies as I could be. I had no idea there is a new Spider-Man movie on the horizon, so I was like 'oh, okay' when I read that the trailer was set to come out earlier this week.

I didn't go out of my way to watch it. My nephew asked if I had seen it and I responded with a 'not yet'.

'Well, I'm surprised seeing as one of your favourite Marvel characters is in it.' was his reply.

'Who?!'

'The Punisher.'

Okay. Business has picked up.

The best thing about Spidey and The Punisher being together in a movie is this: my first-ever introduction to Frank Castle was through an association with Spider-Man in a series of comic books.

Back in 1988, when I was staying with my American relatives, I would be treated to a bunch of Marvel publications whenever we'd visit the bookstore on the air force base. This bookshop was where residents would buy newspapers and there were rows-and-rows of American publications.

One of the series of comics was called Marvel Tales. In the storyline run I found myself reading, Spider-Man and The Punisher teamed up to take on the villains. I believe I have at least three issues of that particular title. I've added an image of two covers from a Google search.

I've written about the base's bookshop many times in the past. I most recently mentioned the store when I pointed out I had bought a magazine with a feature about the 1987 Masters of the Universe movie in it.

As I finished that last paragraph, I thought to myself 'how funny' considering Dolph Lundgren played He-Man in Masters of the Universe (1987) and would later go on to be Frank Castle in a not well received Punisher movie from 1989 (you might not be surprised to know I loved that film!).

The Punisher we have in 2026 is the same one we've witnessed in the Netflix Marvel TV Universe and has also appeared in Daredevil: Born Again on Disney Plus.

I like John Berthnal's version of Frank Castle. I very much am looking forward to seeing Frank Castle teaming up with Spidey almost thirty-eight years after I first saw them do so in ink.

My younger self would have loved the idea of those two in a movie.