Marvel Studios released their third Special Presentation in “Punisher: One Last Kill” on 12 May, 2026. Special Presentations were created by Marvel Studios and Disney to highlight certain characters that might not need a whole movie or TV show. The previous ones released were “Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special” and “Werewolf By Night”. They tend to be about an hour long with a tight narrative from beginning to end.
After re-acquiring the rights to Daredevil, Punisher, and more, Marvel has brought the originally Netflix distributed characters to the MCU. Daredevil/Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) first appeared in “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (2021) and then in episodes eight and nine of “She Hulk: Attorney at Law”. Marvel then announced “Daredevil: Born Again”, serving as a follow-up show to the original Netflix series, “Daredevil” (2015). Punisher (Jon Bernthal) made his official return in season one of “Daredevil: Born Again” which released 4 March, 2025. An official Punisher Special Presentation was announced to release the same year as season two. It was then announced Punisher would return in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” that releases 31 July, 2026. Season two released 24 March, 2026 for “Punisher: One Last Kill” to be released a week after the finale of season two.
After being featured in season two of “Daredevil” (2015), having his own show for two seasons, and being featured in season one of “Daredevil: Born Again” (2025), what is something new they could do? Nothing. But, that’s kind of the point.
Reinaldo Marcus Green directed the special and co-wrote it with Jon Bernthal. It follows Frank Castle dealing with PTSD and battling his past as The Punisher while trying not to give up and let his daughter down. He killed the Gnuccis who were the last people involved with his family’s murder. Their mother, Ma Gnucci has come for revenge by setting a bounty on Frank at his apartment complex which sets off an intense raid-style action sequence.
The action in this special is the highlight. Green directed everything exceptionally well. While some shots looked rushed through production, there were enough creative beats to make it an awesome time. With goons coming to kill Frank at his apartment, it lends to really amazing raid-style action which basically means when a person is in one location being raided and they need to escape.
Bernthal’s acting here is at an all time high. Having played the character for roughly 10 years, it’s amazing that he still finds new avenues through his performance. Bernthal is one of the most underrated actors of our time, having so much range from doing superhero projects to working with Martin Scorsese. His performance is definitely enhanced by the 10 years of emotional attachment to the character but still very moving, nonetheless.
The special’s runtime and its story are interesting because it’s not movie-length but not a full series. The runtime definitely faults it, making it feel slightly rushed and not as satisfying with the ending. Frank’s arc is very rinse and repeat from when we always see him. He starts off not being the Punisher, putting it in the past for him to get back in it due to some incident with it ending with him accepting the mantle. And then the next time we see him, it’s the same cycle. There are so many things they can do that’s new with the character but I think the team knows that. I think they squeezed out this same cycle one last time for this special to properly bring Punisher into the MCU. It may be naive but I think going forward, he will really stay as Punisher.
The special is subtitled “One Last Kill” which can be taken many ways. I take it as Frank Castle needing to kill himself, metaphorically, to finally become The Punisher. This project is the segway into a new era of Punisher with way more storylines and concepts to do with the source material. First stop being “Spider-Man: Brand New Day”
4.5/5 Pomegranate Seeds
