Marvel Comics’ new Punisher series replaces Frank Castle with… a brand new character

Here’s a twist: The next Punisher comic series won’t star Frank Castle. Instead, some guy named Joe Garrison is suiting up for the next iteration of the title, Marvel Comics revealed at a San Diego Comic-Con panel today.

Garrison a new character from writer David Pepose (Savage Avengers), “a retired S.H.I.E.L.D. black ops agent, is brought back into the action after his past rears its violent head,” according to a Marvel Comics news release.

Where’s Frank Castle? Well, in Jason Aaron, Jesús Saiz, and Paul Azaceta’s Punisher miniseries, after he became the chosen avatar of a god of murder, his resurrected wife Maria stripped him of his newfound powers and he was captured by the Avengers. Then Maria revealed that she’d been about to ask for a divorce on the day she died, took all his money, and left him. Rather than accept the Avengers’ punishment, Frank seemed to magically annihilate himself, with Doctor Strange confirming “Frank Castle is no more.”

Punisher #1 will kick off a new ongoing series written by Pepose with art from Dave Wachter (Planet of the Apes).

Image: Dave Wachter/Marvel Comics

Image: Rod Reis/Marvel Comics

“Is this the return of Frank Castle—or the start of something else?” reads Marvel’s official summary of the issue. “Frank Castle has disappeared, but evil will always need to be punished. With all-new threats rising to claim innocent victims, criminals will need to beware of a dangerous vigilante hunting them from the shadows. Who is the new Punisher? What put him on his path of vengeance? And when the smoke clears, will he even make it out alive? “

The book will hit shelves in November.