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The Punisher owes his existence to Gwen Stacy. This might seem hyperbolic, but the gun-totting Marvel vigilante wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Spider-Man’s sweet (and deceased) college girlfriend.

In 1973 Gwen Stacy was killed by the Green Goblin in Amazing Spider-Man #121 (1973). The reader backlash was huge, so Marvel Comics publisher Stan Lee ordered Amazing Spider-Man writer Gerry Conway to bring her back. This resulted in Conway creating the original 'Clone Saga,' where a villain named Jackal would clone Gwen Stacy. Conway then realized Jackal should have an enforcer who would show up for a single appearance. Enter the Punisher.

“The Punisher was a character that we created for Spider-Man as sort of a secondary villain,” Punisher co-creator Gerry Conway says during a panel at San Diego Comic Con 2013. “[Stan Lee] had wanted us to bring Gwen back, and as part of that storyline I created a character called the Jackal who was going to be sort of my mastermind behind the scenes. And in order to introduce the Jackal I wanted to step it back even one step further and create a character who would be our first introduction to the Jackal.”

The Punisher made his first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #129 (1974), and originally that was going to be his only appearance, but the character was too cool to fade away.

“Initially the Punisher was going to be a one-shot villain. In the process of designing the costume with [John Romita Sr.], I had this notion of a little skull on the chest, like the Phantom perhaps. And John took it and embellished and made it into that really iconic skull on the chest and teeth as the belt buckle and all of that cool stuff. And in the process of writing it we realized, oh yeah, this is kind of a cool guy. Let’s keep him around.”

Since then, the character has had multiple movies, a Netflix television series, video games, countless comics, and more. And none of it would’ve ever happened if Marvel hadn’t decided to throw Gwen Stacy off a bridge.

Want more? Make sure you've read our list of all the best Marvel Comics stories of all time, and get ready for all the free Marvel comics coming as part of this year's Free Comic Book Day 2026 / Comics Giveaway Day  2026 events.