In just a week, Marvel TV will release The Punisher: One Last Kill, and the Disney+ special feature has released a new look in time for the Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 finale. The first trailer for the one-hour spinoff promised an intense, hyper-violent descent into Frank Castle’s psyche, as he’s dragged back into some unfinished business by a rising criminal empire, and Jon Bernthal’s jagged antihero looks in incredible form.
The new look was revealed as Born Again Season 2’s finale aired, revealing more footage from the upcoming special. Castle sat out Born Again Season 2 entirely, despite the finale of the first season setting up his revenge against Wilson Fisk’s corrupt AVTF after they beat him down and locked him up. The show didn’t offer an explanation for his absence, but the real-world reason was Bernthal’s availability: ultimately, Punisher’s roles in One Last Kill and Spider-Man: Brand New Day meant Born Again return was impossible. Hopefully the special offers some explanation. Here’s the new teaser, which focuses more on the original trailer’s violence, with a few flashes of new footage:
Punisher: One Last Kill Promises to End a Chapter For Frank Castle
We spoke to Bernthal – who also Executive Produced and co-wrote One Last Kill – as part of our Summer Preview and he revealed what he wanted to achieve from the special: “We really tried to honor the comic and the comic book fans. The directive from day one was pretty simple: it was how do we get Frank from this place in his life where he is reeling and spiraling out of control, a man who is set on absolute vengeance, to a place where he can find some meaning, where he can find something new to fight for? But he does find a bit of purpose, and I think that is an exciting new take on the character.”
The most interesting question about One Last Kill is how it will transition Frank from being the furious, wounded animal we’ve seen in all of the footage so far, into a character who works in the more family-friendly environment of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. It may not require a complete declawing, of course, but it feels a little unlikely that this version of Frank is going to seamlessly sit alongside Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. Still, opposites attract, and there’s definitely some magic in the idea of how their dynamic will play out.
The Punisher: One Last Kill releases on May 12 on Disney+. Are you excited to see it? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!