While most of the Punisher's plots are based on grim realism, his most recent one sets Marvel's most lethal antihero against a literal deity. Only one character, who has just been introduced in the MCU as a villain, can help him win this battle.
The God of Thunder finds himself in the presence of every god in the Marvel Universe in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie Thor: Love and Thunder. Before any more gods were murdered by Gorr the God Butcher, Thor intended to assemble a group of gods to aid him in killing him. Instead, Zeus made fun of Thor before the King of the Gods actually assaulted him, which set off a series of events that resulted in Thor striking Zeus with a lightning bolt. Zeus determined to make Thor pay for his arrogance and enlisted the help of his son Hercules to carry out his retaliation.
Hercules is lost in the Land of Shades after being transported there by a Titan named Typhon in Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, and John Buscema's Avengers #50. Hercules encounters the Gods of Olympus while wandering these cursed lands and learns that Typhon also sent them to the Land of Shades. Readers undoubtedly anticipated some sort of conflict when the Greek demigod Hercules met his father Zeus because Zeus had recently exiled Hercules from Olympus, much to the delight of Ares who used Hercules' exile as an opportunity to become closer to Zeus. Zeus, on the other hand, welcomed Hercules with open arms and gave him the assignment to vanquish Typhon and restore Zeus' honour in the process. Zeus repelled Ares with a swift swat of his hand when he violently opposed to his decision to entrust Hercules with such a job. Ares was forced to flee in humiliation because he had no power to match Zeus'.
How Hercules could aid the Punisher in fending off a common foe
The Punisher has been designated as the High Slayer of the Hand and endowed with the power of the demonic beast that the ninja clan worships in the most recent run of the comic book series by Jason Aaron, Jess Saiz, and Paul Azaceta. The Punisher turned Ares, the God of War, into his sworn adversary by joining forces with the Hand. In Punisher #6, Ares and the Punisher square off against each other for the first time, and Frank Castle is soundly defeated despite the development of his new demonic abilities. As things stand, it appears that the Punisher has no chance of defeating the God of War unless he teams up with Hercules, another superhero from the Marvel Comics.
As seen in Avengers #50, Ares is also the demigod's longtime foe. If the Punisher could get Hercules to aid him in defeating Ares, Hercules might then request the assistance of his father, Zeus, to permanently put an end to Ares' evil influence on the universe. Zeus is significantly stronger than Ares, and he has fought the God of War on Hercules' behalf in the past, thus if the Punisher could convince Hercules to aid him (as Hercules has a history of supporting Marvel's heroes), Zeus might be inclined to rescue his son. Even though it is extremely unlikely that any of that would ever occur, it is theoretically possible-and given the Punisher's present power level relative to that of Ares, depending on Hercules, who is currently an MCU antagonist, may be his only option.
