The Punisher is not a hero. At best, he is an anti-hero. According to his own creator, he is a straight-up villain who goes on regular shooting sprees and sadistically kills people for sport. Frank Castle himself knows this and includes anyone trying to copy him as just another killer on his hit list.
Most superheroes consider Frank to be a bad guy who needs to be stopped. While he respects these heroes, that doesn't keep him from defending himself when they go after him (though he is sure to never use lethal force against them). Here are ten heroes who have tried to stop Frank Castle and ended up failing to take him down:
10 Spider-Man
Spider-Man and the Punisher have a lot of history together. In fact, Punisher debuted as a villain way back in 1974 in Amazing Spider-Man issue 129. The Punisher and Spidey fight twice in the issue and Frank gets soundly beaten both times. Since then, he's improved a lot.
In Greg Rucka's Punisher: War Zone, Peter Parker attacks Castle for using a stolen web shooter to commit murder. Spidey is furious that Punisher would use something he'd made to take a life. As he beats Frank to a pulp, he points out that he's stronger, faster, and tougher than Frank. But Frank Castle is still a better soldier and utterly thrashes Parker in the end.
9 Luke Cage
Luke Cage is a man with super strength, indestructible skin, and the street smarts that come from a life spent taking on crime in the inner city. During Matthew Rosenberg's 2018 run on The Punisher, Frank is trying to make a getaway from a crime scene in a van. Luke just stands in front of the van, demolishing it.
Frank begins unloading his pistols on Luke, which does little more than annoy him. Then the Punisher drops a grenade down his shirt. While Luke isn't seriously harmed, he's taken out of the fight for the moment.
8 Iron Fist
Seconds after Punisher drops a frag grenade down the front of Luke Cage's shirt, his escape is interrupted by Danny Rand, the Iron Fist. Danny is one of the world's top martial arts. He has literally killed a dragon in single combat, plunging his fist into the creature's heart and pulling it back with the ki powers that give him the title of Iron Fist.
Frank pulls a knife on Danny, which is a laughably bad defense against the kung fu master. Within six panels, Frank is kicked in the head so hard he flies off his feet. He then pulls a pistol, shooting yet another grenade--this one stuffed into the fuel tank of a nearby car. The explosion creates enough of a distraction to let Frank escape.
7 Captain America
Steve Rogers became the legendary hero Captain America after becoming injected with the Super Soldier Serum which gave him increased physical abilities, making him stronger, faster, and smarter than other men. He's also Frank Castle's personal hero.
During the events of Civil War, Frank helps Steve's side, but when Cap accepts help from a couple of Z-level villains, Frank murders them. Steve tears into Punisher, beating him bloody. Frank, meanwhile, won't raise fists against Captain America. Ultimately, Frank wins the fight solely by making Cap lose face in front of his men.
6 Howling Commandos
The Howling Commandos are a black ops group that does the type of special operations that do not appear on official government records. While the most famous incarnation of the team was lead by Nick Fury back during World War II, another group operates in modern times.
This group is tasked with taking down the Punisher. They begin by pursuing him in Los Angeles as he is wrapping up his one-man war against a gang known as Dos Soles, who are being helped by the supervillain Electro. The Howling Commandos go after Frank with drones, explosives, and every high tech gadget they can use in the field, but he stills escapes.
5 Iron Man
Every so often, Punisher works with someone else. One such person is Marine Sergeant Rachel Cole-Alves. Rachel lost her family to gang violence in a similar set of circumstances to how Frank's own family was killed. After Rachel accidentally kills three members of the NYPD, Frank breaks her out of custody using a stolen Iron Man armor.
Iron Man, of course, takes objection to this. He and the other Avengers work to arrest Frank. Iron Man tracks his stolen armor, but it turns out to be boobytrapped. Then Iron Man thinks he's tracked the Punisher again, only to enter a building that Punisher immediately blows up. Only when the rest of the Avengers arrive is Frank Castle finally taken down. Even so, he still gives Rachel enough time to escape.
4 Microchip
Microchip is not exactly a hero in the typical sense. He is an elderly slightly overweight techie. He is also, by his own admission, Frank Castle's only friend, which makes him probably a less than reliable or savory guy. That said, he tries to stop bad guys and works with both the government and Punisher to do so.
During the story "In The Beginning..." by writer Garth Ennis and penciller Lewis LaRosa, Microchip decides to help the government capture Frank Castle. He succeeds in both locating and incapacitating Punisher. When Frank escapes, the two even work together for a little while to kill some mafiosos. However, their team-up ends with Punisher giving Microchip a 12-gauge lobotomy.
3 Wolverine
In Punisher: War Journal, Wolverine and Punisher both stumble upon the aftermath of a jungle massacre. Frank arrives first. Logan, seeing the Punisher standing amid the carnage, blames Frank and attacks in a classic superhero-vs-superhero fight that could be avoided if anyone in comics had basic communication skills. Logan dumps Castle in an alligator-filled river, which is a pretty ineffective way to try and stop the Punisher.
Frank comes back and fills Wolverine with a magazine's worth of lead. This is hardly their final confrontation but it is a memorable encounter and one neither is likely to forget.
2 Nick Fury
Nick Fury has a begrudging respect for Frank Castle's tactical mind and combat capabilities. He even helps Castle to steal the War Machine armor at one point so Frank can take down a genocidal despot. However, Frank is not good at keeping his friends. After Punisher assassinates the Mandarin in front of the U.N., Fury sends a team of heroes to stop him.
Frank beats two waves of heroes who are sent after him. After he is tricked into getting arrested, he breaks out. In the end, the only way Nick Fury can stop Punisher is by partnering with Baron Zemo.
1 Daredevil
Daredevil is the only hero on this list to have as much personal history with the Punisher as Spider-Man. One of the most famous encounters between the two occurs in the story "Welcome Back, Frank" by writer Garth Ennis and the late great artist Steve Dillon.
In the confrontation, Punisher bests Daredevil and ties him up on a roof. The blind hero is then given a pistol. As Frank looks down the barrel of a sniper rifle aimed at a target, he explains the situation: Daredevil can let Frank kill his target or can try and shoot Punisher to stop him, making him just as bad. This scene was recreated in the second season of Netflix's Daredevil series.