The Punisher: One Last Kill (2026)
Marvel have billed this 50 minute (apparent) one off as a “Television Special Presentation” which is the most grandiose way of saying reigniting interest in a character who will be appearing in the upcoming eighteen-hundredth Spider-Man film; Jon Bernthal who plays the grunting Punisher already has a credit on that production.
The Punisher TV series was rather good, I think I preferred it to Daredevil- which has also received a reboot recently. The show finished seven years ago though and farbeit for me to suggest the Marvel Universe is running out of ideas, I’m going to do it anyway. I couldn’t give a toss about the newest Spider-Man effort, even though I’ve enjoyed some of them. Could I give a badger's fart about The Punisher: One Last Kill?
My mental health has not been tip-top recently and concentration has suffered greatly. While it is no chore as I enjoy the shows, I haven’t been able to focus for longer than through episodes of sitcoms I’ve already seen. Ted Lasso has been a godsend. Knowing it is relatively short, really only 10 minutes longer than a Lasso affair, I put One Last Kill on as a little test of my mental progress.
It is redundant accusing a comic book entry (page or screen) of being a bit repetitive and reductive, but Frank’s past catches up with him and as it’s so short a structure all I’ll say is this: Frank Castle has to escape out of a block of lunatics trying to murder him. It’s a reverse The Raid, or Dredd, narrative. Down and out to the down and outs, tout-suite!
The action is engaging, fun and although there’s little time for plot after the set up, that’s not really why Marvel and Disney want you to see this Television Special Presentation. It's also, I’ll wager, not why you or I are watching. One Last Kill is misdirection. This is The Punisher, reborn.
Bedsit it?
Once I'd got over the incessant grunting, The Punisher: One Last Kill not only held my attention, which at the moment is a feat, but made me go back and restart the whole series. Which also features grunting on a Roy Kent level. Something about bloody, righteous justice appeals to me at the moment. It’s nothing new but that’s not bad, and it’ll work in drawing fans back into the multiverse or whatever crap it is Marvel call their spawn now. 7/10
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