It’s been a while since Frank Castle has been in the spotlight since reentering the MCU under the Disney+ banner. Although his major role in “Daredevil: Born Again“‘s first season was welcome, especially in the militaristic rise of Fisk’s Anti-Vigilante Task Force (AVTF), whose look ripped off his entire brand, it was disappointing that season two dropped him completely. That frustration then turned into confusion at the reveal of his upcoming appearance in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”
The long-awaited one-shot special “The Punisher: One Last Kill” aims to bridge the gap between those projects and further develop the character. With this being the second Jon Bernthal-centric television streamer special this month that he co-wrote—the first being “The Bear“‘s “Gary”—Castle’s 48-minute solo outing is a mixed bag. But it finally transforms the run-and-gun vigilante into the skull-face-wearing, fatal purveyor of justice fans all know and love.
The special is set concurrently with “Born Again” season 2. With Hell’s Kitchen having become a fascist cesspool, Castle—last seen escaping Fisk’s prison encampment—is now secluded in an apartment in NYC’s Little Sicily district. There, crime has escalated to an aggressive degree: thugs assault civilians in broad daylight, and even the NYPD won’t touch them. Frank witnesses the violence but refrains from engaging in it due to his lingering trauma. He’s having severe PTSD breakdowns and seeing ghosts of his murdered wife and daughter, as well as his U.S. Navy SARC brethren. He’s depressed and feeling a complete loss of purpose.
Amid his deep grief, Castle is confronted by mobility‑impaired Mafia mama Ma Gnucci (a chilling Judith Light), who scolds him for gruesomely eradicating her entire family in vengeance. She warns him that, as Ma-Ma did in 2012’s “Dredd,” every criminal in the district—from apartment to apartment—has been paid off to hunt him down by any means necessary. Now he must use his brutal skills to survive and, ideally, discover his purpose.
While trying to cram in all his psychological baggage and high-octane action in 48 minutes, the special is fairly messy. “One Last Kill” struggles to find a middle ground in anchoring Castle emotionally and narratively, dedicating its first half to his deteriorating mental state before screeching to a halt in service of its familiar action-oriented premise. Bernthal and director Reinaldo Marcus Green collaborate on the script, which shows their joint understanding of the character. But the decision to make this a standalone chapter hurts it; his characterization feels detached from his last “Daredevil” appearance, instead focusing on his transition into the character who presumably appears in “Brand New Day.” (Bernthal filmed that after, and was insistent on retaining that characterization.)
If this were his first reintroduction—fan service for fans of the Netflix series (mostly its first season)—it’d be rather solid. But it’s far from that, as it’s keen on retreading the territory of his trauma circa the TV show. Not to mention some occasionally terrible dialogue; Ma Gnucci tells Castle, “I’ll be doing ‘the punishing’ now,” which is liable to have your eyes rolling so far back in your head you look like Castle’s signature skull.
However, when “One Last Kill” lives up to its promise of being a chaotic, ultraviolent shoot-em-up, it’s a real blast. The signature hyper-brutal action is well executed, rivaling most of “Born Again”’s action scenes. Its major disservice lies in its editing, which is jarringly choppy, especially during the heightened-fatality scenes Castle dishes out.
Unlike the other self‑contained one‑shot specials, “One Last Kill” seems like Bernthal and Green’s plea to Marvel execs to commission a Punisher movie. Whether for Disney+ or theatrical, who knows? But it has ‘proof of concept’ written all over it.
Bernthal has clearly proven, both on- and off-screen, his deep care for Castle and long ago cemented his status as the comic book character’s best portrayal in visual media. And “One Last Kill” demonstrates Bernthal and Green’s strong handling of the character, and their ambition to continue his story in the future.
For what it is (an interstitial transition point to his next turn in a “Spider-Man” movie, “One Last Kill” eventually gets Castle to a triumphant turning point. But the Punisher would’ve fared better if it had a shot (pun intended) in a theatrical setting and under his own spotlight, rather than waiting to exist in the shadow of our friendly neighborhood web-slinger.
