Why Daredevil believes in the law while Punisher takes justice into his own hands: A detailed comparison
The Man Without Fear is set to make a huge return next year as Daredevil: Born Again is set to finally premiere on Disney+. Bringing back Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock, the series will potentially see Kingpin and the Marvel superhero team up to take down a larger threat. However, alongside Cox, Jon Bernthal will finally be making his return as the Punisher as well.
Fans of the Netflix Daredevil series will remember that the dynamic between Matt Murdock and Frank Castle/ The Punisher was a highlight of season 2. With both characters having extremely opposite ideologies regarding how to handle crime, it made for some interesting scenes that really helped highlight this.
While Matt still believes in upholding the law and rehabilitating criminals by giving them a second chance, Frank believes that if they deserve it then they should be wiped out. This quite immediately establishes just how different the two characters are.
Daredevil's no-killing rule explored
In the comics, Daredevil is a devout Catholic. This also helps him form his no-killing rule, which heavily defines the character. While Matt has killed his enemies in the past, it has also derived from circumstances where he didn't have a choice at all. However, for the most part, he will try his best to defeat his enemies without killing them, no matter how far he is pushed.
A scene from Daredevil season 2 establishes this perfectly. When debating their ethics and morals, Frank challenges Matt's beliefs. With him being a lawyer as well, Matt believes in the law and is of the opinion that there is some good in everyone.
He ultimately believes that criminals can be given a second chance and can change their ways. The teachings of his father and his Catholicism come into play here as well, which informs most of his morality.
Why does The Punisher take justice into his own hands?
While Daredevil might ultimately believe that even the worst can be put on the right path, Frank Castle is the total opposite of that. After bearing witness to the evils of the world, Frank decided to enlist himself in the Navy Seals and even won awards for his service. After many tours, he decided to settle down with his wife and kids, but tragedy would strike him soon.
When his family came across a mafia deal gone wrong, they were brutally gunned down. Frank, however, survived his wounds and soon turned to vigilantism to seek justice.
Becoming the Punisher, he killed criminals who preyed on the innocent and took the law into his own hands as well. However, this would eventually lead him to go too far at times.
This difference in how to handle crime eventually does put Matt Murdock and Frank Castle at odds. While Matt ultimately believes that even a morsel of good might exist within people, Frank, on the other hand, believes that it's good to put down criminals forever so that they won't get back up and hurt more innocent people.
While there is a complex discussion to be had here, it does give these characters a bit of complexity that helps distinguish themselves from each other. Even if Daredevil and Punisher have different ideologies, it still does give us some interesting scenes.
You can see both the characters return to the small screen when Born Again premieres in 2025 on Disney+.