PUNISHER OF THE OPERA
(of Earth-61158)

Real Name: (first name unrevealed) Castiglione

Identity/Class: Extradimensional (Earth-61158) human (18th-19th century)

Occupation: Vigilante

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Christine, les Gars (Raoul, others)

Known Relatives: Marie (wife, deceased), "Frankie" (son, deceased), "Lisa" (daughter, deceased)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: The French Catacombs, Paris, France;
formerly a home in Corsica

First Appearance: Avengers Halloween Special#1 (December, 2018)

Powers/Abilities: The Punisher of the Opera had no superhuman powers but he carried several guns and knives in battle, and was a trained fighter from his time with the Paris police.

Height: 6'1" (by approximation)
Weight: 200 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

History: (Avengers Halloween Special#1/4 (fb)) - In Paris, France circa 1881 A.D., Mr. Castiglione loved his opera singer wife Marie, with whom he had two children. A police officer, Castiglione would often bring the children and watch from backstage as Marie performed at the Palais Garnier. When Marie's understudy Christine grew jealous of Marie's attention, she arranged for her lover Raoul and his goons to kill Marie and her children. When Castiglione returned home to find his dying wife and children, he held them in his arms as they died in front of them. Mourning his loss daily, Castiglione became obsessed, ultimately losing his job and his home until only he desire for revenge remained. Later wandering into the French Catacombs beneath Paris, Castiglione heard voices and soon realized he was beneath the Palais Garnier opera house, where Marie formerly worked. Listening, Castiglione overheard Christine bragging about her upcoming opera debut and Raoul confessing to Marie's murder.

(Avengers Halloween Special#1/4) - Consumed with a desire to punish those responsible for his family's murder, Castiglione stalked the opera house and on the night of Christine's debut, he cut down a chandelier, which crashed onto Christine, killing her. He then leapt from the rafters, killing Les Gars with a gunshot wound to the head and hitting another gun with a knife to the head. Tracking down the fleeing Raoul, Castiglione caught him and shot him a point blank range.

Comments: Created by Jay Baruchel and Luca Pizzari.

Castiglione's first name was never revealed but it was presumably a variant of Frank. His children were also not named in-story but one might presumed they were named "Frankie" and "Lisa" like their Earth-616 counterparts. It's possible they had different names but for the purposes of this profile, I am referring to them as "Frankie" and "Lisa." Additionally, Castiglione was only called "Punisher of the Opera" in the story's title and never on-panel.

The Punisher of the Opera's height and weight are approximated from his Earth-616 counterpart.

The character is inspired by Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera. Christine and Raoul are also characters from that story, which is set in the Palais Garnier (just like this version) and in the novel, the Phantom kills at least one victim by dropping a chandelier on them, just as the Punisher does. Given we're not provided a first name in the story, perhaps this is Erik Castiglione, since Erik was the Phantom's name in the novel. -Loki

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Punisher of the Opera has no known connections to:

• Punisher, robot utilized by Galactus, once reprogrammed to serve the Frightful Four @ Fantastic Four I#49
• Punisher (Frank Castiglione), his Earth-616 counterpart @ Amazing Spider-Man I#129
• Punisher, alias briefly used by Lynn Michaels @ Punisher War Journal I#62
• Punisher, alias briefly used by the Hitman Punisher @ Punisher II#86
• Punisher, alias briefly used by the Idiot Punisher @ Punisher War Journal I#62
• Punisher, alias briefly used by Outlaw (Nigel Higgins) @ Punisher War Journal I#63
• Punisher, alias briefly used by the Yuppunisher @ Punisher II#86
• Punisher, alias briefly used by Carlos Cruz @ Punisher II#97
• Punisher (Jake Gallows) of Earth-928, vigilante circa 2099 A.D. @ Punisher 2099 I#1
• Punisher of Earth-928, robot created by Matt Axel circa 2099 A.D. @ Punisher 2099 I#28
• Punisher (Cosssandra Castle) of Earth-2992, daughter of Elektra & Punisher, attempted to train son Franklin to become vigilante but died from cancer circa 2099 A.D. @ Marvel Knights 2099: Punisher 2099#1
  
• or any other "Punisher" or "Opera" characters

images: (without ads)
Avengers Halloween Special#1, p23, pan3 (Punisher of the Opera, main image)
Avengers Halloween Special#1, p21, pan3 (Punisher of the Opera, unmasked headshot)
Avengers Halloween Special#1, p20, pan1 (Punisher of the Opera, younger)

Appearances:
Avengers Halloween Special#1 (December, 2018) - "Punisher of the Opera" story - Jay Baruchel (writer), Luca Pizzari (art), Jake Thomas (editor)

First Posted: 04/16/2019
Last updated: 04/21/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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