Jon Bernthal’s return as The Punisher is just as emotional as it is brutal. From gory kills to a moving look at PTSD, Frank Castle is back and better than ever.
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE PUNISHER: ONE LAST KILL.
When I sat down to watch The Punisher: One Last Kill, I thought I knew exactly what I was getting into. I expected the gory violence and the uncompromising justice that defines Frank Castle, but what I actually got was so much deeper. This Marvel Special Presentation is a soul-crushing, adrenaline-fueled evolution of the character that left me emotionally exhausted in the best way possible.
I wasn’t expecting to be full-on sobbing within the first act, but here we are. Anything involving the death of children is a direct hit to the heart for me, and the way this special framed Frank’s past trauma felt painfully intimate. We’ve seen the origin story before, but One Last Kill dives into the psychological wreckage of his PTSD with a level of nuance I haven’t seen in the MCU since WandaVision or the original Netflix run.
I was thrilled to see Jon Bernthal return to this role. He has this incredible ability to transition from a silent, grieving father to a literal force of nature. You can see the weight of every life he’s taken and every memory he can’t escape written on his face. The portrayal of his mental state is a raw, grounded look at a man who is perpetually at war with his own mind.
Of course, it wouldn’t be The Punisher without the carnage, and this special delivered on that front with terrifying creativity. I thought I’d seen it all in the action genre, but the pen sequence just kept going. It went on way longer than I anticipated it would – but in a good way.
Without spoilers, there is a moment at the beginning of The Punisher: One Last Kill that fully shocked me. It was a gut-wrenching moment that felt almost too mean-spirited at first, but it served its purpose perfectly. You will know exactly what I am talking about when you watch this film. I cannot believe they did it, but it was there to fuel anger in viewers. And it works.
The biggest surprise for me, though, was that amazing cameo. My jaw actually dropped. The chemistry with Frank was always the heartbeat of the original series, and seeing that character back on screen brought a much-needed sense of hope to an otherwise dark story. It grounded Frank and reminded us that despite the skull on his chest, there is still a human being somewhere underneath the armor.
I was genuinely surprised to see how short the runtime was. I expected at least an hour, if not longer, but forty-eight minutes, including credits, was enough to give me what I needed. This feels like the start of something new, and not a goodbye to the character.
The Punisher: One Last Kill is not what I expected, but it ended up being everything that I wanted. It successfully bridges the gap between the gritty realism of the original series and the larger-than-life stakes of the current MCU.
It’s bloody, it’s gory, and it’s unapologetically violent, but it also has a massive, aching heart. It seems to be here to welcome Frank Castle back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it has me all but begging for more of him. I cannot wait to see what they do with him next, because even though it is called One Last Kill, they cannot end it like this. He is finally back. And I need more. A lot more.
About The Punisher: One Last Kill
As Frank Castle searches for meaning beyond revenge, an unexpected force pulls him back into the fight.
A Marvel Television Special Presentation: THE PUNISHER: ONE LAST KILL is now streaming on Disney+.
