The Punisher: One Last Kill's Trailer Proves Jon Bernthal's Special Is Even More Brutal Than I Expected

Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are already eating well with Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, currently wowing fans every week on the 2026 TV schedule. But there will be no breaks for the MCU as immediately after the new season of Born Again finishes, we'll get Punisher: One Last Kill, a TV special that looks like it may take us to the darkest corner of the franchise.

The trailer for One Last Kill just dropped, and while I was certainly expecting something violent and meant for a mature audience, I'm not sure I was expecting this. The trailer gives us all the action we might want from the Punisher, but it also makes clear that Frank Castle is not in a good place mentally. Check out the full trailer above.

The Punisher: One Last Kill Trailer Is Brutal And Dark

When we last saw Frank Castle in the MCU, at the end of Season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again, he was breaking arms and escaping from Wilson Fisk's vigilante prison camp. Now we see a man with a grizzled beard who is apparently hallucinating old friends telling him that he is damned for what he has done.

It's hard to tell from what we see here what the story even is. Although there is a young girl who we see in multiple shots who appears to be important, a girl who reminds Frank Castle of his own daughter, whom he lost.

One Last Kill looks like a story that will be as brutal emotionally as it will be physically. We see plenty of action with Castle taking down many people with both hand-to-hand weapons and guns. While the MCU is generally a PG-13-friendly place, the franchise isn't afraid to go adults-only for the right reasons. Daredevil: Born Again set a bar for violence in the MCU, but it looks like Punisher: One Last Kill may be planning to raise that bar yet again.

One Last Kill Won't Be The Last We See Of Frank Castle

While there have been a couple of one-off MCU stories on Disney+, like Werewolf by Night and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, One Last Kill is still something of a rarity as a standalone story that is neither a series nor a movie. Streaming does make it easier for these sorts of productions, which is great. While I'm all for a Punisher movie or series, if this particular story works better with a run time of an hour, it's likely better that nobody tried to expand it into something it didn't need to be.

While the subtitle of the show may indicate some sort of ending, we know that we'll see The Punisher again in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, where we will see a somewhat lighter version of the character due to the movie's rating. It will be interesting to see how these two iterations of the character fit together. Considering how dark this looks, Brand New Day may be even more jarring by comparison.

Now, to see The Punisher in action, you can catch One Last Kill with a Disney+ subscription on May 12. Then, you'll get to see him again when Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into theaters on July 31.

TOPICS

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis. Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.