WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Ravencroft #3 by Frank Tieri, Angel Unzueta, José Luis, Scott Hanna, Rachelle Rosenberg and VC's Joe Sabino, on sale Wednesday, March 25.
Marvel Comics has been slowly revealing the secret history of the Ravencroft Institute For The Criminally Insane, an institution similar to the Arkham Asylum of the DC Universe. Some of Marvel's worst criminals and villains have been jailed at Ravencroft at one point or another, though the building did get a remodeling after it was destroyed during Absolute Carnage.
Ravencroft is now rebuilt and open for business under the helm of Wilson Fisk, the mayor of New York City. The former Kingpin of Crime has filled Ravencroft's staff with familiar Marvel villains like Taskmaster, Hobgoblin, Moonstone and Scorpion, leaving Misty Knight, John Jameson (Man-Wolf) and Dennis Dunphy, aka Demolition Man to keep the inmates from running the asylum.
There is no telling who you might see inside Ravencroft from one minute to the next, which made one prisoner's actions in Ravencroft #2 intriguing. Prisoner 616 was greeted by a guard who was looking for payback. Apparently, the prisoner was responsible for something bad that happened to the guard's cousin. While trying to dish out his revenge, the guard instead ends up being pulled into the cell with the prisoner, where he is most likely tortured and possibly killed.
A preview of Ravencroft #3 takes us back to the cell door to Prisoner 616 as Moonstone and Demolition Man stand with armed guards, weapons pointed at the mystery man with his hostage. He eventually steps out of the shadows, with his nametag revealing that he is Frank Castle, the Punisher.
Somehow, Marvel's most sadistic antihero has found himself in Ravencroft. Even Demolition Man never imagined that he'd be in a standoff with the Punisher. Before we get too far along, we should mention Punisher's designation as Prisoner 616 is an Easter egg for the Marvel 616 Universe, which is the standard universe that the majority of Marvel storylines take place.
Moonstone tells Punisher that he is outnumbered, outgunned and outmaneuvered. Even so, Punisher isn't afraid to go down in a blaze of gunfire. After all, as he reminds Moonstone, that is how his family was killed. Surprisingly, it's Wilson Fisk that steps forward to ease tensions and defuse the situation. If we had to wager, Fisk must have something special planned for Punisher while he's an inmate of the Ravencroft Institute.
The Punisher has pursued Fisk dating back to his time as the Kingpin, so the two are very familiar with one another. It's also possible that Punisher was apprehended on purpose just to get close to Fisk. Either way, the presence of the Punisher doesn't bode well for Ravencroft's villainous staff or inmates.
Ravencroft #3 goes on sale March 25 from Marvel Comics.