Jon Bernthal is returning as Frank Castle in The Punisher: One Last Kill, Marvel's upcoming Disney+ Special Presentation, and for the first time in MCU history, the actor carrying the skull on his chest is also the one who wrote the story.
Confirmed via Disney+'s The Punisher: One Last Kill official press & cast sheet, Bernthal - who was cast as the special's star when it was first announced in 2025 - is credited as the co-writer on the screenplay alongside director Reinaldo Marcus Green. The two previously worked together on the 2022 HBO Max miniseries We Own This City and the 2021 film King Richard. This marks the first time in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (both on the big screen and on Disney+) that the titular star cast in a Marvel Studios project is also a credited writer on that project.
"They've held me accountable to every step along the way," Bernthal told Entertainment Weekly. "I really want to earn this and I really want this to be good." Marvel Studios looked at his previous writing before asking him to formally pitch the special, and the Disney+ project moved forward from there.
The idea grew out of filming on Daredevil: Born Again Season 1, where Bernthal began conceiving a standalone story for the character. Season 1 ended with Castle arrested by Wilson Fisk's off-the-books detention facility, then escaping. One Last Kill picks up from there, running concurrently with the events of Born Again Season 2, which explains his absence from the new season while also setting the table for his MCU theatrical debut in Spider-Man: Brand New Day on July 31.
Key Reasons to Be Excited About Disney+'s The Punisher: One Last Kill
It’s an R-rated Project
One Last Kill is expected to be an R-rated project. This is exciting because it allows Jon Bernthal and the creatives on board to let loose and properly adapt the comic it's inspired by, Welcome Back, Frank. That comic arc is a wild one, and it'll be interesting to see how much inspiration One Last Kill takes from it.
Bernthal has been clear about what that rating means in practice. "It will not be Punisher-lite," he told Entertainment Weekly. Instead, it'll be "A visceral, psychologically complex, unforgiving, no-holds-barred version of Frank." The Netflix series built its reputation on not flinching, and One Last Kill is built on the same principle, this time within the MCU proper.
One Last Kill Introduces a New MCU Villain
Isabella "Ma" Gnucci is the hardened matriarch of New York's most powerful Mafia family and one of the few villains who pushed Frank Castle to his limit. Her MCU debut in One Last Kill makes her one of the most anticipated comic-to-screen translations in the Punisher's history.
Set photos have teased her debut, and she looks intriguing. In the comics, her confrontation with Frank is one of the most brutal arcs in the character's history, and Marvel even re-released that storyline as part of its Marvel Premier Collection in March, with a new foreword written by Bernthal.
It Runs Concurrently With Born Again Season 2
Frank Castle doesn't appear in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2. That's because One Last Kill's story runs concurrently with Season 2's events, giving Castle his own chapter while Matt Murdock deals with Kingpin's political grip on New York. Vincent D'Onofrio confirmed on social media that Bernthal was "busy making his own hour-long Punisher film," which tells you how Marvel positioned the production.
After Born Again Season 2 wraps on May 5, One Last Kill arrives a week later on May 12, filling in what Castle was doing while Daredevil was otherwise occupied. From there, Frank will appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day and will even trade his One Last Kill suit for a new one.
One Last Kill is the Longest Marvel Special Presentation Yet
Marvel's previous Special Presentations ran 53 minutes (Werewolf by Night) and 42 minutes (The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special). One Last Kill runs 60 minutes, confirmed by its Writers Guild of America listing, making it the longest entry in the format by a clear margin.
That gap is a huge deal for a character like Frank Castle. The Punisher's psychology, his grief, his moral code, and the cost of living by it, need room to be depicted properly. A 42-minute showcase format wouldn't serve this story.
Sixty minutes is closer to a standalone film than a TV special, and that would allow fans to see the best of Frank as Ma Gnucci pulls him back into action for one more dance. It's also exciting to have another special presentation on Disney+ after 4 years.
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
