The Punisher might be the most famous lethal vigilante targeting New York City’s criminal underbelly, but Marvel Comics just brought back another self-appointed judge, jury, and executioner who makes the Punisher look tame by comparison. Spider-Woman #1 has changed everything for the titular heroine who is now forced to host the notorious Carnage Symbiote. Although Spider-Woman still has managed to maintain control over the sadistic Symbiote, her newest villain may challenge her like never before. For after 40 years since his apparent death, the Hangman has returned to dispense lethal judgment, and he won’t stop until the entire mafia is dead.
In Spider-Woman #1, Spider-Woman is working as a professional investigator for the Daily Bugle. Her latest case involves a series of brutal murders of gangsters who are hanged. Naturally, Spider-Woman deduces that the culprit is an underrated Marvel villain named Harlan Kruger, aka the Hangman who was thought to be long dead. This reintroduction perfectly shows what makes the Hangman such a twisted villain that will undoubtedly challenge Spider-Woman’s already fracturing sense of morality.
Hangman first appeared in 1973’s Werewolf by Night #11, where he battled the feral villain. Wielding a noose and a scythe, Hangman brutally murdered numerous criminals. However, while that initial description makes him simply sound like a version of the Punisher who uses more medieval forms of execution, Hangman’s origin, motivations, and targets paint a far darker picture. Instead of being a force for justice, Hangman is a genuine monster who had deluded himself into thinking that he’s a hero.
Growing up, Kruger idolized the heroes he watched in classic movies and developed a simplistic black-and-white concept of morality. As an adult, he was court-martialed and tossed from the army because of his sadistic treatment of prisoners of war. Kruger proved to be so brutal that not even the police wanted him. This led Kruger to don the Hangman hood and start killing criminals. However, his ideas about “evil people” and how to punish them were far more twisted and broader than the Punisher’s. Along with criminals, Hangman would kill actors and movie producers for supposedly corrupting the youth. He would imprison female criminals in dungeons until they starved to death. That cruelty led Hangman to battle heroes like Werewolf by Night, Iron Man, and Spider-Woman.
Hangman had stayed dead for 40 years after he was supposedly killed by a movie producer that he had tried to execute. However, Spider-Woman #1 retconned it so that he faked his death and had stayed under the radar by becoming a hired killer. All his actions and beliefs show why Hangman is a dark reflection of the Punisher. Whereas the Punisher began his crusade out of grief and anger over the loss of his family, Hangman did so out of a deluded sense of self-righteousness and underlying sadism and sexism. Additionally, the Punisher only kills actual criminals, while the Hangman kills those who don’t meet his twisted moral standards. However, Hangman’s latest crusade actually has him acting at least slightly more in line with the Punisher, for now.
For years, Hangman was content with just being an assassin for the mafia. Yet when his estranged daughter Christine was nearly killed in a mob shootout, Hangman decided to wage a one-man war against all his former employers. He’s left dozens of thugs either hanging or dismembered. However, this crusade terrifies the mother of Hangman’s daughter, who knows that once he believes that he’s purged New York of its evil, he will kidnap Christine. But with Spider-Woman on the case, things are bound to become a lot more complicated.
As the new host of the Carnage Symbiote, Spider-Woman risks becoming just like Hangman. Despite her best efforts to maintain control, the Symbiote has already begun twisting her mind to make her more sadistic and violent. She’s already killed a criminal in Spider-Woman 50th Anniversary Special #1 and is now much quicker to resort to brutality. All this paints a disturbing picture of her dispensing even more lethal justice. Battling Hangman could be the make-or-break event of Spider-Woman’s corruption arc. Spider-Woman might recognize that she’s become the very monster Hangman is and spare him. Alternatively, Spider-Woman could fully give in to the Symbiote’s corruption and ensure that Hangman stays dead once and for all.
Hangman is the perfect villain for this Carnage-infused Spider-Woman to battle because he’s a reflection of what she could be if Symbiote continues to warp her mind and make her believe that killing criminals is justified. Also, once Hangman discovers that Spider-Woman hosts one of the world’s most notorious serial killers, he’ll undoubtedly see it as his duty to take her down to protect his daughter. If Spider-Woman isn’t careful about her control over the Symbiote, she’ll become just as much of a monster as Hangman.
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