ABSTRACT

This paper engages in a cultural legal reading of the character Frank Castle (a.k.a ‘the Punisher’) as rendered in Netflix’s Daredevil (2015–2018) and The Punisher (2017–2019). Situated within the superhero genre, Castle is an extreme vigilante who instead of simply capturing criminals, kills them, presenting a critical interrogation of law and justice. The paper focuses on the explicit and implicit justifications presented for the Punisher’s death-dealing violence, examining not only the way he goes beyond the law but aligns to and represents modern legality. Contributing to the literature on law, superheroes and sovereignty, it argues that Castle’s malleable relationship to the law challenges the presentation of the superhero as a figure of exceptional justice. By analysing both the narrative production of death-worthiness alongside the visceral and affective responses elicited from the viewer, the paper considers the ability of a critical legal spectatorship to judge cinematic images of violence.

摘要

本文涉及在Netflix的Daredevil（2015–2018）和The Punisher中呈现的角色Frank Castle（又名“惩罚者”）的文化法律解读。（2017–2019）。Castle位于超级英雄类型中，是一个极端的警惕者，他不只是抓捕罪犯，而是杀死他们，提出了对法律和正义的严厉审讯。本文着重介绍了惩罚者实施死刑暴力的明示和暗示理由，不仅考察了他超越法律的方式，而且还与现代合法性保持一致并代表现代合法性。它对有关法律，超级英雄和主权的文献作出了贡献，认为卡斯尔与法律的可塑关系对超级英雄作为特殊司法人物的表象提出了挑战。通过分析死亡价值的叙述性产生以及观众引起的内在和情感反应，本文考虑了批判性的法律观众判断暴力电影影像的能力。