The New 'Punisher' Just Dropped on Disney+ - and It's the Most Divisive Thing Marvel Has Put Out in Years
Jon Bernthalhas been waiting a long time for this. Since his first appearance as Frank Castle in the second season of Netflix's Daredevilin 2016 and his own two-season Punisherseries that ran through 2019, fans have argued that nobody else should play the character, and that the character deserved better than what the streaming era kept giving him. The Punisher: One Last Kill, a 45-minute Marvel Special Presentation that released May 12 on Disney+, is the closest thing to an answer that argument has received.
Bernthal co-wrote the special alongside director Reinaldo Marcus Green (King Richard, Bob Marley: One Love), and both have spoken about how deeply personal the project became. The story follows Frank Castle at his lowest point, haunted by hallucinations of his murdered family, watching the New York neighborhood he knows descend into gang violence, and trying to hold himself back from the only thing he knows how to do. He eventually stops trying. The special's villain is Ma Gnucci, played by Judith Light, a crime lord whose arrival sets off the bloodiest Marvel production to date. Critics on Rotten Tomatoesgave it an 84% score, while audience ratings on Popcornmeter reached 96%.
The reviews were positive, but the conversation that dominated social media on May 12 and 13 was about something else. In the opening minutes, a group of gang members beats a veteran and throws his dog in front of a truck. The scene sent fans onto X in waves. Some said they turned the special off within five minutes. Others called it the most effective gut-punch opening in the franchise's history, noting that Castle spends the rest of the special hunting down the man responsible.
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Green addressed the backlash directly in an interview with The Brandon Davis Show, saying the team questioned the scene through every test screening. 'It was vital to this particular piece,' he said. 'I love dogs. And it was hard for me too, man.' He confirmed that Bernthal, whose own father led the Humane Society and who owns pit bulls himself, was consulted throughout. The scene stayed because, without it, the character's endpoint in the special didn't carry the weight they needed it to.
A separate controversy emerged around a stunt shot late in the special that fans mocked as resembling a PlayStation cutscene, though a source told The Hollywood Reporter the moment was an in-camera stunt with face-swapped VFX, not unfinished effects. Disney+ also acknowledged audio mixing issues that affected dialogue volume for some viewers.
The special is being treated as a bridge to Spider-Man: Brand New Day, where Bernthal's Castle will appear this July. Whether One Last Kill is the Punisher story fans wanted, or it fuels the argument that a full film is still needed, well, that conversation is now well underway.
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This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 5:12 AM.