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You may have noticed that I have been reading Thunderbolts lately. You may have also noticed that I have said that the artwork is awful. Really, really awful. In Thunderbolts 18, this continues to be true. As mentioned before, the characters seem…. out of character. For example: the Punisher and Elektra date. And by date, I mean the Punisher is nailing Elektra.
It turns out, this was a subplot all along, which I had no clue about. I did not know because it is rarely acknowledged, and makes no sense. Neither the Punisher nor Elektra were known to be impulsive individuals. The Punisher finding any sort of girlfriend would imply letting someone into his life, which is a thing that the Punisher would never do back in the old days of “War Journal”, since he was a one-man warrior who trusted no one but himself.
I discovered this plot point at the end of Thunderbolts 18. In the issue, the attacking aliens are destroyed rather conveniently, and the people that the Punisher wanted to kill happen to show up at the pizza parlor that Deadpool abandoned the team to eat at. So everything gets wrapped up in a pretty bow.
If the idea of seeing Punisher and Elektra date excites you, consider picking up a few issues of Thunderbolts and checking it out.
How Punisher and Elektra Became Marvel’s Most Dysfunctional Couple
If you ever wondered what would happen if two of Marvel’s most emotionally unavailable murder machines tried dating, Thunderbolts gave us the answer. Spoiler: it’s weird. The Punisher and Elektra hooking up is like watching a shark try to cuddle a landmine. It’s not romantic, it’s just dangerous and confusing.
Their relationship first surfaced in Thunderbolts #7 and continued through the series, culminating in a bronze heart gift and a breakup that involved literal weaponry. It wasn’t just a fling, either. They fought side by side, shared a twisted sense of justice, and even had a few moments of vulnerability. But let’s be real—Frank Castle doesn’t do “vulnerable.” He does “vengeance with a side of trauma.”
What makes this pairing so strange is how little it aligns with their core identities. Elektra is a chaotic assassin with a flair for the dramatic. Frank is a walking war crime in a trench coat. Their chemistry is less “will they, won’t they” and more “should they, absolutely not.” And yet, Marvel leaned into it, giving us a romance built on mutual bloodlust and emotional repression.
It’s not the first time Marvel has paired up unlikely characters, but this one feels like it was written on a dare. Still, it adds a layer of unintentional comedy to the Thunderbolts run. Watching these two try to navigate a relationship while also murdering mobsters and aliens is like watching a rom-com directed by Quentin Tarantino.
So if you’re into dysfunctional dynamics, emotionally stunted antiheroes, and love stories that end with someone getting stabbed (emotionally or otherwise), the Punisher and Elektra arc might be your kind of chaos.