“Mature”
“Easily the best thing the MCU has produced since Avengers: Endgame”
“The true MCU reboot”
These are some of the reviews from critics about the recently released special presentation, PUNISHER: ONE LAST KILL, from this past Tuesday.
As someone who is a fan of the anti-hero, I must say I agree with the statements above. This was one of the best things the MCU (Marvel Comic Universe) has ever produced. Definitely up there with Avengers Endgame, the first Iron Man and the first Black Panther (RIP Chadwick Boseman. We love and miss you.)
SPOILERS BELOW. IF YOU DIDN’T WATCH THE SPECIAL, DO NOT READ ON
ONE LAST KILL, timeline wise, takes place shortly after the events of season 1 of DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN and around the beginning of season 2 of the same show. That’s a major piece of info to highlight, hence why the Punisher didn’t show up in season 2 of DDBA. In the start of ONE LAST KILL, we see solo Frank Castle (played with intense greatness by the very talented Jon Bernthal) inside of an empty apartment, struggling with life and without a purpose (for now..) We see flashbacks of former marines trying to talk some sense into him, including the haunting return of his former close friend/brother in arms Curtis Hoyle (played by the solid Jason R Moore). Moments later, we see Frank walk to the cemetery to visit the graves of his late family. Frank is considering killing himself, then he sees a hallucination of his daughter Lisa, and stops himself from pulling the trigger, literally.
As he’s moving around the chaos of the city, he bumps into a blast from his tragic past, and the audience is reminded of some of Frank Castle’s sins that lead him into the life he’s currently in. Frank is cornered by crime lord Ma Gnucci (performed with quiet malice by veteran Judith Light) and it’s revealed Frank was behind the killing of her husband and three sons. She has put a bounty on Frank and that leads to the entire city trying to kill Frank, and per usual, Frank does what Frank does: which is kills a lot of people and spills blood. The special ends with Frank saving a family owned bodega (shoutout to Andre Royo aka Bubbles from THE WIRE having a small, yet important, role in the special) and realizing that he has a lot of work to do as being The Punisher.
This was easily a refreshing way to re-introduce Frank Castle back into our lives. This was the more intense, brutal, uncomfortable, version of the character and I’m here for it. The closest comic book version of Frank Castle appeared in this special. Of course, my one knock to the special is that it was too short (about 45 min runtime) but I think that was the point. It was to re-usher a new(?) era of the next MCU chapter. We all know that Frank Castle will appear in the upcoming SPIDER MAN: BRAND NEW DAY and beyond that, the future is up for grabs (a new solo show? Season 3 of DDBA? A full length movie? Join the Street Avengers?) We hope that Frank Castle sticks around a bit longer this time around and continues to gives out his own version of justice.
Welcome back Frank, indeed.
Open Frame Media. 
Leave a comment