- Daredevil vs. The Punisher
And speaking of the law, nowhere better is the conflict between operating in and outside of it illustrated than through Daredevil and the Punisher, the dichotomous duo of justice and vengeance.
The two represent a broader conflict between superheroics as they’re conventionally known and vigilantism in practice. Whereas Daredevil is a blind lawyer/ninja with super-senses, the Punisher is simply a soldier (albeit the greatest soldier ever) with nothing to left to lose. “Soldiers don’t wear masks” as the fantastic Jon Bernthal version of Frank Castle put it in Daredevil Season 2.
I don’t say that to be reductive but to point out that, skull outfit aside, the Punisher is the kind of character, similar to how EW‘s Darren Franich illustrates Doomsday and Bane in his recent column, that cuts the bullshit of superheroics and presents a vigilante free of theatrics and morals who can simply blow away criminals. The Punisher is basically the embodiment of this classic Indiana Jones moment.
Daredevil meanwhile is like a cross between Catholic penance and the justice system. He’s the personification of the tension inherent in law, of how the law sometimes hinders rather than enables justice. He uses his fists instead of guns and wears a gaudy costume because criminals are a cowardly and superstitious lot. The issues churned up between these two relate to gun rights, the death penalty and systemic failures. Are there people who deserve to die? Who decides? And how do we react when the system fails us?
