When Disney announced a new Punisher One-Shot for Disney+, fans were concerned that the iconic Frank Castle would get the classic Disney family friendly reimagining. Rest assured, Frank will not be doing his own rendition of “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes.” Instead, Castle is every bit as violent as the titular character deserves. While it would be easy to get lost in the blood and gore, ‘One Last Kill’ delivers on a deeply tragic and dark narrative. This is easily one of the BEST specials Marvel has produced. Riddled with the gritty violence that The Punisher has become known for, ‘Punisher: One Last Kill’ lives up to it’s name providing one of the most violent and richly deep Punisher stories put on film.
Coping with the trappings of PTSD, Frank Castle has seemingly fallen off of the face of the planet after taking out the Gnucci Crime Family, descending the New York neighborhood that Castle is living in into outright violence. Leaving one member of the family alive, Castle finds himself going toe to toe with the matriarch of the Gnucci family, Ma Gnucci. What follows is genuinely one of the darkest hours of television to bear the Marvel moniker. While many will argue that it could have gone on longer, and it could have, ‘Punisher: One Last Kill’ has absolutely placed itself at the head of the table of Marvel Entertainment.
The World In Tatters
For The Punisher to work, Marvel had to create the perfect setting. The filmwork needed to be dark, the action: violent. Marvel nailed this aesthetic beautifully. The neighborhood from the word go was a haven of chaos. This one-shot classic sets the tone early, showing the audience that this was not Spider-Man’s New York City, but darker (Rest in Peace that guy’s dog). Castle to his credit is trapped in the hellscape of his own mind, which mimics the streets of the New York neighborhood. Both are truly a piece of hell in a neighborhood that is circling the drain.
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From Castle dealing with his own mental health and the consequences of his actions, ‘Punisher: One Last Kill’ was a mile a minute gorefest that felt like it should’ve been longer, but when put in the context of a One-Shot comic book, it makes perfect sense. The show does a lot in a very short amount of time. What ‘One Last Kill’ does the best, however, is set up the future of the MCU. Audiences know that Castle will make his next appearance in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day.’ What will the version of Frank post-‘One Last Kill’ be like and how will that fit into the less gritty world of Peter Parker? While that has yet to be seen, the set up is crucial and ‘Punisher: One Last Kill’ provides the perfect alley for Spider-Man to oop come July.
Crime & Punishment
There is only one person who was specifically put on this planet to play Frank Castle. That individual goes by the name Jon Bernthal. Bernthal put on an absolute masterclass of dramatic and action-packed acting. The audience could feel rank’s torment, feel his pain. It should be noted here that Bernthal pulled double duty, writing this episode as well. Bernthal’s approach to Castle’s mental health and trauma was gutwrenching. Jon Bernthal gets who, and most importantly, WHAT The Punisher is and that will pay in dividends if Marvel continues to push this character.
A hero, or rather, anti-hero is only as good as his villain. Judith Light matched Jon Bernthal step for step, going toe to toe with Bernthal’s Castle with her venomous portrayal of Ma Gnucci. Light presented not only Gnucci’s search for vengeance, but she portrayed it sympathetically. Gnucci is the perfect foil to Castle. As the audience and fans of Marvel, we should be thankful that we got to watch Light and Bernthal spar with one another. This most certainly will not be the last we see of Light’s Gnucci.
Final Thought:
While it most certainly could have been longer, which seems to be the biggest criticism, ‘Punisher: One Last Kill’ did everything it was supposed to do: set the next stage for what comes next in the MCU and deliver a dark, violent and gritty outing with The Punisher. ‘One Last Kill’ provides that in droves. It’s certainly not without it’s faults, but Marvel has provided what should be the template for every one-shot that comes after ‘One Last Kill.’
