Oh, let me count the ways The Punisher: One Last Kill was a rough watch. The Marvel special, which you can check out with your Disney+ subscription, was a huge bummer. Not just in the story it told, but how the story was told, too. It picks up with Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) at the end of his rope. Like a lot of Punisher stories, there is no happy ending for Frank, but as this special is clearly meant to set up the character’s entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we know this isn’t the ending. I’m glad that’s the case, because the…show?...movie?...special presentation didn’t really work for me on a few different levels.
If you haven’t seen The Punisher: One Last Kill or Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 and don’t want to be spoiled, you'd better stop here, because I’m going to be spoiling a lot.
First, The Dog
I have to start with the dog at the beginning. Broadway legend John Douglas Thompson plays the homeless vet with a cute dog who is brutally attacked in the street by a gang of thugs. The beating ends with one of the taking the dog and throwing the poor thing into traffic. This was probably the moment that many TVs turned off the show. I get it. No one likes to see dogs get hurt. Me included.
However, what upsets me even more is that this kind of action is completely unnecessary. It would have been enough to have the gang beat the guy up and steal his Marine Corps hat. The added brutality of killing a dog is, in my opinion, a cheap way to garner sympathy for a character and show how bad another can be. It’s a trope that I can’t stand because it’s manipulative when it’s not needed. I didn’t turn it off, but I was immediately wary of what would come.
The Story Is Obviously A Bummer, But So Was The Experience
The story of Frank finding purpose is, as I said, like most Punisher stories, a bummer. Everything with Frank Castle is hard to watch, and Berthal nails this aspect of the character. Every time he relives the death of his family is sad, and once again, we see some of that here. Every time we see Frank break down and find himself reeling (again) from their murders, it is hard. I expected all that, but what I didn’t expect, as I generally really love this portion of the MCU, is how much of a bummer the show would be outside of the plot.
The timeline is confusing, at best. It never really establishes where it fits in with the Daredevil corner of the MCU, much less the bigger MCU timeline. Presumably, this story takes place after the events of Daredevil: Born Again, but it gives no cues or clues that it is for sure. It also probably takes place before the events we’re going to see in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which hits theaters in a couple of months as part of the 2026 movie schedule. Again, though, there is nothing in the show that confirms this.
Finally, the special was just too short. It ends right as it seems like it should be beginning. It’s like a pretty good season premiere, instead of a complete story. It reminds me of a 50-minute version of those shorts they used to do early on in the MCU that helped bridge a gap between movies and superheroes. I guess this is bridging the gap between The Punisher TV show from almost a decade ago and Brand New Day, which makes sense, but it still feels a little hollow.
This doesn’t mean I’m less excited for Bernthal’s Punisher in the MCU. I’m still psyched about that.
