During Secret Empire, Frank Castle — AKA the Punisher — chose to side with Captain America and Hydra. The deadly anti-hero’s choice proved to be a controversial one, and it seems that he’ll have some atoning to do in Marvel Legacy.
In an interview with CBR, series writer Matthew Rosenberg teased how the Punisher’s choice to side with Hydra-Cap will influence his behavior when he dons the War Machine armor in the next arc, starting with Punisher#218.
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“His role in Secret Empire was troubling, even for a man like Frank Castle who is, himself, troubling,” Rosenberg said. “But it was supposed to be. Seeing Frank jump into bed with bad people to get the chance to go at other bad people is tough to swallow but it raises some interesting questions about what and where his lines are.
“When we pick up with Frank, he has moved past that in a lot of ways,” he continued. “I like to think he has regrets and sees a chance to set some things right, but he’s not really someone who is big on introspection or verbalizing his feelings. In our series, Frank is going up against a fascist military government, trying to do what he always does, kill the bad guys. Is his decision to do this a reaction to Secret Empire? It’d be disingenuous to say it wasn’t a factor. But is he also going to cross some lines and maybe fall into some of the same traps as before? Yeah, for sure.”
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Guiu Vilanova will provide art for the series, which will see Castle take up the mantle of War Machine after the death of James Rhodes during Civil War II.