The Punisher: One Last Kill is the third Disney+ Marvel TV special, joining the ranks of Werewolf by Night and Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special. I love Jon Bernthal as The Punisher/Frank Castle, and when I heard that this was going to be a thing, I was very excited for it. Although I will be honest and say that I do wish that they had just made an actual Punisher movie or given us a third season of The Punisher TV show. Still, I will take what we can get.
Where to Watch The Punisher: One Last Kill
The Punisher: One Last Kill was released on May 12, 2026. You can stream the film from Disney+.
The Movie Review
I went into The Punisher: One Last Kill as blind as I could, but I assumed that this would be a follow-up from where we left him in Daredevil or as a setup for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, as Punisher is playing a role in that movie. Either way, I thought that this had a ton of potential to be fun, and let me tell you, it was a lot of fun.
Frank Castle Faces a New Deadly Threat
While it is fun, the special kind of felt a little flat. If you want to see The Punisher going on a rampage, killing people left and right in brutal and gruesome ways, hey, this has you covered. Jon Bernthal’s portrayal as the troubled war veteran version of Frank Castle is something I like, but I feel like this character takes one step forward and then two steps back each time we see him.
The story sees Frank trying to deal with the memories of his past, but Ma Gnucci, the head of a crime family that Frank destroyed, has put a price on his head, and it brings all the crazy wackos in New York out to try and take it. That is pretty much all there is to the plot of The Punisher: One Last Kill, and to be fair, it kind of works. It moves at a fast pace, and we do get a bit of emotion thanks to Frank seeing his daughter, so that was good. No spoilers here, but the way he is dressed at the end had me letting out a hell yeah, along with a fist pump!
Brutal Action and Marvel Connections
The violence is just as over the top as you would expect, but as cool as that was, and as fitting as that was for the character. It does make me wonder, how the heck do they have this version of The Punisher in a Spider-Man movie? They are going to have to really tone him down to make him work there. Hey, I have all the confidence in the world that they will pull it off, and Spidey and Punisher together, fighting bad guys in New York, is something that I think is awesome.
The Infamous CGI Scene Explained
Oh, as it has been memed to death, I feel I have to talk about the famous CGI scene that is pretty much dominating all the coverage that this special has gotten. The CGI where Frank falls onto what I think is some kind of air conditioning unit is up there as some of the worst CGI I have ever seen! It honestly looks like something from a movie that was made in the early 2000s! I had heard about it, but I thought that there was no way it could be that bad. Boy, was I wrong, as you truly have to see it for yourself to appreciate how bad it is.
Final Verdict on The Punisher: One Last Kill
To be fair to this special, at least it is all mostly in daylight, and it does not have the Disney+ curse of everything being so dark that you can hardly make it out. But that specific scene is by far the worst CGI in the entire MCU! The thing is, it is completely unnecessary! They could have had Frank get knocked off the roof, you hear the crash, the camera then cuts to him lying on top of it, and it would have had the exact same effect!
The terrible CGI scene aside, The Punisher: One Last Kill was a fun thrill ride. It may not have been the setup for Spider-Man: Brand New Day that I was hoping it would be, but I still had a great time. Be sure to check this out; it only lasts around 40 minutes, and it absolutely zooms by.
