The Punisher: One Last Kill has arrived on Disney+, but does Frank Castle return to his violent ways? Find out below.
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The one-off TV special sees Jon Bernthal return as the titular Marvel Comics character, following his appearances in the MCU series The Punisher and Daredevil: Born Again, and ahead of his role in the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
The 51-minute show is directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, best known for King Richard and Bob Marley: One Love, while it has been written by Bernthal and Green together. It was released onto Disney+ on Tuesday (May 12), as part of Phase Six of the MCU.
Bernthal returns as Frank Castle, who has adopted the Punisher moniker after becoming a feared vigilante with a reputation for battling the criminal underworld. One Last Kill sees him trying to live a life without the need for revenge, only to be drawn back into unexpected conflict with the crime lord Ma Gnucci (Judith Light).
Check out the trailer here:
The Punisher was revealed to be a part of Spider-Man: Brand New Day last year, and he appeared in the trailer earlier this year, bickering with Peter Parker during a high speed chase in which they both appeared to be on the same side. The film comes to UK cinemas on July 31.
The character last appeared in Born Again, the revival of Daredevil that aired in 2025, although Bernthal initially turned down the opportunity to return before a creative overhaul for the show changed his mind.
The ending of The Punisher: One Last Kill explained: does Frank Castle embrace violence again?
The show opens with Castle haunted by grief for his family, hallucinating figures from his past and contemplating suicide.
He is corned by Ma Gnucci, the matriarch of a crime family that wants to exact revenge on Castle – he murdered Gnucci’s husband and sons as a result of their role in the deaths of his own family.
Gnucci has placed a bounty on Castle’s head, and when he returns to his apartment, a gang of criminals breaks in and sets his room on fire. Castle is provoked into action, barely escaping the blaze and ruthlessly taking out the attackers one by one.
As the criminals begin to overcome him, Castle jumps from the roof and finds himself conflicted between pursuing Gnucci and saving an innocent shop owner. He chooses the latter, taking out the attackers in the shop, thereby saving the owner and family.
The shop owner’s daughter gifts him a paper rose, which he takes to the grave of his daughter, before returning to vigilante work on the streets.