Rating: TV-MA | Runtime: 51 minutes
Release Date: May 12th, 2026 (USA)
Studio: Marvel Studios / Disney+
Director(s): Reinaldo Marcus Green
Writer(s): Jon Bernthal & Reinaldo Marcus Green / Gerry Conway, John Romita Sr. & Ross Andru (comics/characters)

I think I need some help.

While Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) was already “reborn” alongside Daredevil last year via cameo, the actor and his King Richard director Reinaldo Marcus Green reunite to give the character “one last kill” on his own terms. The result is a fifty-minute hack ‘n’ slash romp that renders its title comical as well as obsolete.

Is his “last kill” the final Gnucci male and therefore the final person tangentially related to the murder of his wife and kids? Or is it Ma Gnucci (a fantastic Judith Light) after she green lights his entire apartment complex for extermination to wreak her revenge? It’s not the former since Frank kills dozens of extras during an extended climactic gore fest. So, maybe it is the latter … just not yet.

What Bernthal and Green really do is find a way for Kevin Feige to position The Punisher as a potential ally to Peter Parker in Brand New Day. Because Frank has neither killed with impunity nor saved as a rule. His specific list of targets merely leads him to kill anyone guilty and save anyone innocent in his way. Having “one last kill” simply quiets the PTSD to stop him from eating his own gun.

Now, thanks to Andre Royo’s Dre and his young daughter, however, Frank might also find purpose in protecting all innocent souls regardless of their proximity to his gun. Not that he’ll need to stray far if Little Sicily’s no holds barred war zone is any indication.

As for the PTSD—it’s just exploited as a plot point. So, don’t expect this chapter in Castle’s story to say anything new. Its job is to replace the need for newcomers to watch his Netflix appearances. And yet I’d argue that route might strangely be safer for Brand New Day‘s target demographic than this bloodbath.

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Frank Castle / The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) in Marvel’s THE PUNISHER: ONE LAST KILL, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel. © 2026 Marvel. All Rights Reserved.