Review: The Punisher: One Last Kill | A Marvel Studios Special Presentation

I’m always fascinated by whether or not actors know what makes their performances so compelling. Are they intentionally making choices that showcase their unique strengths? Or do their most gripping moments sneak out while they think they’re doing something else? If they were the ones in full control of the story, would their performances be as interesting or do they need a third party capable of nurturing and highlighting something they can’t see?

It's the sort of question we can’t usually answer, but given that The Punisher: One Last Kill is essentially a 44-minute self-written vanity project for Jon Bernthal, it provides a fascinating case study. Bernthal’s performance is perfectly fine here; full of all the angst, intensity, and machismo swagger that tough guy male actors love to lean into. But it’s missing just about all of the elements that make Bernthal’s take on Frank Castle so uniquely captivating—his dry sense of humor, his sudden moments of vulnerability, his quiet respect for women, and the flirtatious level of charisma he can harness as effectively as any weapon.

If this project was meant to showcase all that Bernthal can do as Frank Castle, it’s fascinating that he only wound up scratching the surface of his own talents. I’ve spent the past decade assuming Bernthal is the architect of his own wildly compelling performance as Frank, but maybe he needs collaborators like Daredevil season two showrunners Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez and Punisher showrunner Steve Lightfoot to bring out elements of himself he doesn’t even realize are there.

That’s the most interesting revelation from a special that otherwise has no real reason to exist. As it promises on the tin, this is truly just a one-off project devoid of any meaningful connection to the wider MCU. It could basically take place at any point in Frank’s post-Punisher arc, but if I had to guess, I’d say it falls in the middle of Born Again’s first season, between Frank’s unhinged appearance in episode four and his return as a calmer, more fully fledged Punisher in the first season finale.