Daredevil: Born Again - episode 3 - At the Hollow of His Hand: Punisher’s symbol and the danger of distorted icons, explored

Daredevil: Born Again is not taking things lightly—and fans have been loving every second of it.

Symbols have power, but only as much as people give them. They are born with meaning, evolve through time, and sometimes, they are stolen.

The skull emblem of Frank Castle, the Punisher, was never meant to be a badge of authority, but somewhere along the way, it became one. Episode 3. At the Hollow of His Hand, of Daredevil: Born Again brings this issue to the forefront.

White Tiger is gunned down in the streets, their murderer boasting on their chest what seems to be the Punisher logo. But was this the work of Frank Castle himself, or has his image been hijacked for something far more insidious?

To understand what Daredevil: Born Again is doing here, we need to talk about how symbols are corrupted, rewritten, and sometimes, turned into weapons.

The Punisher never wanted to be a symbol

Frank Castle’s war on crime has always been personal. He was not fighting for a greater cause, nor was he seeking to inspire others. He was simply enacting his form of justice, one bullet at a time.

Yet, over time, his skull emblem was co-opted. Police forces, military units, and extremist groups have taken the Punisher’s symbol and repurposed it to represent authority and brute force. The irony? Frank Castle has always despised those who abuse power.

In the comics, he directly confronts police officers who idolize him, tearing their Punisher stickers off their cars and telling them:

"You took an oath to uphold the law. You don’t do what I do."

Once more, in Daredevil: Born Again, we see a version of his symbol being worn by dirty cops and killers.

This is not an accident. This is a statement.

The historical parallel: when sacred symbols are stolen

This is not the first time a symbol’s meaning has been rewritten.

The swastika was once a sacred sign of peace, used in Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain traditions for thousands of years. It symbolized balance, good fortune, and harmony.

Then, the Nazis took it. They twisted it into something entirely different. Now, in many parts of the world, the original meaning has been erased.

In some countries, the manji, a visually similar but entirely unrelated symbol, has been censored in certain media because of its "resemblance" to the Nazi swastika. Even if the manji it came before. It was the original symbol, distorted. Even in spite of having a history that predates the latter by millennia.

A similar process is happening to the Punisher’s skull—considering the due proportions of a religious symbol turned into a tool for oppression in real life, of course. But art imitates life, and life imitates art. Sometimes, unfortunately.

The Punisher's skull was once the mark of a man who hunted criminals, but now? His symbol was stolen and modified and is now being worn by those who impose power over others. Criminals themselves. Corrupted. Killers.

And in Daredevil: Born Again, Wilson Fisk is weaponizing this shift.

Fisk’s endgame: rewriting history in real-time

Fisk understands the power of symbols. He knows that people believe what they are told, not necessarily what is true.

By ensuring that White Tiger’s killer wears what looks like the Punisher’s emblem, Fisk is doing more than just framing Castle. He is turning the public perception of the Punisher into something useful for him.

Because if Frank Castle is seen as an uncontrollable menace, Fisk can position himself as the man who will restore order.

He does not need to kill Castle. He just needs the world to believe that the Punisher is a problem only he can solve.

The hypocrisy of those who wear the Punisher’s symbol

The biggest irony of all is that Frank Castle has never been an agent of the law.

He has no respect for authority.

He does not follow orders.

He exists outside any system.

And yet, police officers, soldiers, and even government forces have adopted his emblem, as if he represents them.

They wear his skull while enforcing laws, ignoring the fact that Castle exists because the system fails.

It is not surprising that Fisk would exploit this contradiction. The people wearing that symbol think it gives them power. Fisk knows it gives him control.

The future of the Punisher in the MCU

Now that Daredevil: Born Again has introduced this idea, the question becomes: What does Frank Castle do next?

Will he reclaim his symbol, proving that it never belonged to the people using it in his name?

Will Matt Murdock realize Fisk is orchestrating all of this, and try to stop the narrative from being rewritten?

If Fisk wants the Punisher to be seen as a villain, is he ready to face the real thing?

Because if there is one thing Frank Castle has never done, it is let someone else decide who he is.

Final thoughts

Symbols are powerful, but they are not fixed. They evolve, they are corrupted, and sometimes, they are stolen.

The Punisher’s skull was never meant to be a sign of unchecked authority, just as the swastika was never meant to symbolize hate. But history is not written by those who create symbols. It is written by those who use them.

And now, Wilson Fisk is rewriting Frank Castle’s legacy in real time.

The question is: Will the real Punisher let him?