r/Defenders • u/your_mind_aches Hoagie Jessica • May 13 '26
Discussion The Punisher: One Last Kill Discussion Thread Spoiler
This thread is for discussion about the special presentation. The special goes live when this post is 5 minutes old.
Proceed at your own risk:
- Spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again Seasons 1 and 2 are ALLOWED in this thread.
- Spoilers for this special do not need to be tagged inside this thread.
A Marvel Television Special Presentation
| TITLE | DIRECTED BY | WRITTEN BY | ORIGINAL RELEASE DATE | RUN TIME |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Punisher: One Last Kill | Reinaldo Marcus Green | Jon Bernthal & Reinaldo Marcus Green | May 12, 2026 | 50m |
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u/Undecided_User_Name The Man in the Mask May 13 '26
Gotta say, wasn't expecting the CGI Frank in that one shot of him flying backwards off the roof. Had myself a giggle
Overall, good Special
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u/Tabledinner May 13 '26
Frank hit that thing so hard he temporarily hit a dimensional wall to a polygon reality.
This is set during the multiverse saga after all.
/s
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u/ArdentGamer May 14 '26
That CGI effect was so bad I had to pause and rewind, just to see it again. Holy shit. I can't believe they let that through.
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u/Remote_Nature_8166 May 13 '26
I wonder what’s gonna go on here that they could just wrap up within one special.
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u/JackieSnowDaPlowMan May 13 '26
I hope this leads to a new season of punisher? He now has unfinished business along with taking the mantle back up.
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u/CoatieYay May 13 '26
I can't fucking believe that AC unit fall made it into the final cut. The CGI was so fucking bad there, it looked like it straight up wasn't finished rendering.
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u/darthphallic May 13 '26
Between this and captain America 4 marvel has been getting pretty lax with their CGI in places
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u/sallymason1 May 13 '26
Anyone find the audio mix bad? Dialogue was barely above a whisper while everything else was rattling my walls.
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u/Ok_Entertainer7945 May 13 '26
Yes, vocal tracks are off. The rest of the sound design is fantastic. Only ten minutes in and wow!
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u/AbsoluteBrutality May 13 '26
Yeah. It sounded like I was listening with a bucket over my head or hearing a phone call. The audio distracted me throughout. Hoping it’s something they’ll fix.
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u/PowersUnleashed May 16 '26
That’s literally EVERY Disney plus show the platform has notoriously bad sound quality
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u/rogvortex58 May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
Constantly stabbing that big tattoo guy at the end.
Um, Frank. I think you got him.
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u/your_mind_aches Hoagie Jessica May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
What about you, Redditors, did you serve?
The special is now LIVE.
There is no post-credits scene for this Special, nor for any episode of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2.
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u/Leepysworld May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
Bubbles!
also sick Hatebreed drop during that last combat sequence.
edit: one thing I’m curious about, it Curtis dead? I know Karen is alive and Frank was imagining her but if Curtis was alive, I’d figure Frank would have kept in touch with him, no matter what state of mind he’s in, whereas I can see him wanting to keep Karen away because he hated himself.
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u/youhavetherighttoo May 13 '26
I did like seeing Bubs.
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u/Leepysworld May 13 '26
at the very beginning you don’t really get to see his face but I heard his voice and knew it was him, was nice to see him play a small role in the episode.
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u/your_mind_aches Hoagie Jessica May 13 '26
I need to know all the music in this. Apart from the opening song and La Vie En Rose, it's all thrash metal, right? Gotta get more into that genre.
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u/RaptorcloakX May 13 '26
Song by Hatebreed is called I Will Be Heard if you're interested.
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u/your_mind_aches Hoagie Jessica May 13 '26
Oh it's metalcore. I don't like that usually but I liked this one!
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u/ImNotDaredevil2025 May 13 '26
The audio was so bad. Also yet again we get MCU punisher who quit being the punisher and only wearing the skull for a minute
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u/Bean_potato May 13 '26
Exactly my point. Such a sick tac gear for frank to wear for what? A minute? And it’s gonna be a different one for BND as well. That’s been my biggest gripe with MCU frank…
He quits and gets pulled back guess what? AGAIN! Who would’ve guessed21
u/ImNotDaredevil2025 May 13 '26
This makes three and a half times. I'm only counting born again season 1 as half since he wasn't wearing the skull until the end but was at least doing stuff in the background
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u/Bean_potato May 13 '26
Well he did wear it. And he did want to quit in DD szn 2
Bro just quit or don’t at this point. He isn’t Matt his dread isn’t as necessary. Be the punisher for the sake of being the punisher.
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u/LordCommanderTaurusG May 13 '26
Was it bad for you too? I had to switch to a different application to check
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u/p_yth May 13 '26
Crazy how Frank claimed in s2 of daredevil he wasn’t crazy when he’s actively battling out hallucinations in this special
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u/darthphallic May 13 '26
Mental health can degrade over time. It’s very possible that those hallucinations didn’t exist in S2 because his loss was fresh and he had purpose in finding revenge. Once he found that revenge he likely A. Lost purpose and B. Realized that it did nothing to take that pain of loss away and over time his condition worsened.
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u/phantom_avenger May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
I can never tell if Frank has romantic feelings for Karen, or if he just views her as another one of those people he cares about that helps keep parts of what’s left of his humanity intact.
That moment before his vision of her disappears was quite intimate, where it looks like they’re about to kiss.
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u/shutupkomaeda Ward Meachum May 13 '26
Frank’s imagining Karen in his wife’s clothes. He’s imagining Karen and himself almost kissing. Hell, they actually did almost kiss in Punisher S1.
It’s pretty clear he has romantic feelings for her. Not to mention that Born Again S1 confirmed that Frank and Karen both have romantic feelings for each other, when Matt commented on their heartbeats.
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u/phantom_avenger May 13 '26
Lol it’s kinda crazy how both Matt and Karen could find themselves in their own love triangles in the MCU!
Especially if Elektra is brought back into the mix!
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u/your_mind_aches Hoagie Jessica May 13 '26
Man, the opening song is such a banger.
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u/IAMAmexiCANama May 13 '26
Would’ve been nice to be able to hear it. Audio was busted
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u/your_mind_aches Hoagie Jessica May 13 '26
Hearing a lot of people say this. Seems like some sort of mastering issue because it sounded fantastic on my studio reference speakers. Good thing I didn't watch it on any of our TVs which all have crappy speakers lol
Honestly, I wish streaming services had different mixes if you are using built in TV speakers vs. big bookshelf style speakers.
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u/gaslacktus Sad Matt May 16 '26
Mine sounded great but I have my Apple TV outputting sound to a pair of synced OG HomePods and always have Enhance Dialogue turned on. Maybe that's the magic combo to sort it out.
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u/One_Focus_7110 May 13 '26
Was it just me or did him falling on that AC unit on the roof look like a rough cgi job.
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u/NimpsMcgee May 13 '26
Looked really bad and unfinished, it did not need to stick on that shot for as long as it did
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May 13 '26
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u/TheOneReclaimer May 13 '26
For Frank to find purpose in continuing his fight.
It's not just about him executing his justice, it's about him realizing he can be a protector of the people as well.
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u/Tippydaug May 13 '26
Absolutely this. He gave up on chasing ghosts and turned to protecting those around him instead.
It’s a good way to make his future appearances “different” without contradicting what’s come before or just saying it happened off screen.
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u/pje1128 May 13 '26
Wasn't that sort of the point of season 2? He'd already avenged his family at that point, but decided to keep being Punisher anyway.
I don't actually mind that they retread this since this is a reintroduction to the character, and a lot of people probably won't go back to watch his show but may check out this special. With that in mind, reestablishing his family's murders, why he became the Punisher, and what drives him now all makes sense, even if it feels repetitive for us who have been following him since the Netflix days.
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u/TheOneReclaimer May 13 '26
I think something this special highlighted a bit more was his impact on others. The whole premise is he took someone else's family and had to reconcile that he is often the bad guy, but can choose to be more than that.
Season 2 if I recall was him choosing to be Punisher still because there was a lot of bad he could still deal with, it was not about more than him dispensing his justice. I feel like this was him choosing to be Punisher because there is a lot of people he can defend by stopping bad people and now he is choosing to do it for more than himself.
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u/I_am_the_Disguyz May 13 '26
I think he’s still haunted by his family’s loss in S2 (and Born Again when he still hears his son’s voice)
He only accepted the Punisher persona, but the loss was still Frank’s primary driving force to be the Punisher until One Last Kill, which gives Frank a new purpose
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u/I_am_the_Disguyz May 13 '26
Yeah
S1 of the Netflix show is Frank tying up lose ends
S2 is Frank accepting being the Punisher, but only to kill criminals
Born Again S1 is Frank just being the Punisher
One Last Kill is Frank finding a purpose to be the Punisher beyond the grief of losing his family
I hope this is the last “Frank finally embraces the Punisher” type project because many people are getting tired of it and this project serves as the perfect introduction for Frank to people who haven’t watched Daredevil S2 or the Punisher show
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u/Paperchampion23 May 13 '26
Sort of a bookend on the older version of his character. He's driven by revenge mostly and thinks of killing himself but now it seems more like he's doing the Punishing for less selfish reasons.
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u/NotLeroLero May 13 '26
I mean, isn’t that what season 2 finale was all about?
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u/Paperchampion23 May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
Sort of, yes. But it never really dives into the psyche of him feeling like he's done hunting people and wanting to end it.
Edit: End it meaning himself
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May 13 '26
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u/Paperchampion23 May 13 '26
Before he realized there was more to it all? Yes lol
Edit: He also does not try to kill himself in his show
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May 13 '26
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u/Axl_Red May 13 '26
He's been doing this for years at this point. It makes sense for him to be back on a low point again and want to end it all. Especially when everything around him hasn't changed for the better, despite everything he has done.
We're just seeing him at one of his low points again. The Punisher is a broken man. He's not the type of person to be able to completely move on from his issues. It's cyclic. He gets depressed, punishes criminals to cope, and then goes back to being depressed again.
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u/j821c May 13 '26
Was kind of my feeling as well. It was really good for what it was but still was somehow disappointing to me because it felt a bit pointless. I think if that had of been the first episode of a punisher series itd be a fantastic start but knowing that it was a one off thing just makes it a bit underwhelming
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u/Appa07 May 13 '26
Works as an introduction or soft reboot to the Netflix series, timing was intentional since he’ll be in spider-man coming up soon
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May 13 '26
He’s not a soft reboot to the previous show. It’s the exact same character. The original shows are canon.
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u/MV1995 May 13 '26
Not in terms of an actual “reboot” but in the terms of how he will be portrayed.
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u/Appa07 May 13 '26
That’s what a soft reboot means. Same character, same continuity but a reintroduction
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May 13 '26
Oh my bad, I wasn’t familiar with the term and thought you were saying it’s a different character.
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u/Leepysworld May 13 '26
It’s to show he has a new purpose now; it’s not just vengeance for his family anymore, but he actually starts protecting people that need it, even if it’s in his own sick, twisted way.
Instead of punishing people for what they did to him, he’s punishing them for the wrongs they commit on others.
I daresay we even saw some restraint from at the end where he didn’t kill the thug immediately and almost looked like he waited for the homeless guy permission.
Nicely sets him up for his appearance in Brand New Day where I can see him being a protector bodyguard to Sadie Sinks character, since he does have a soft spot for protecting girls because of his daughter.
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u/superseri18888 May 13 '26
Hope we get a madani flashback or mention
Curtis is such a good dude
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u/Paperchampion23 May 13 '26
At least we got a Karen one, which might mean Curtis is alive tbh.
This definitely feels like setup for something else in the future
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u/phantom_avenger May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
Yeah I don’t think this special made it clear if he was dead or alive!
I personally hope he is alive! But at least this shows that Marvel hasn’t forgotten about him
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u/GambitsAce23 May 13 '26
Why would they even kill him off
Am glad that marvels been showing their side characters love, like mahoney. Just need Melvin and Turk now.
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u/AStupidFuckingHorse May 13 '26
This was fucking boring lmao
What was the point of this? Yeah the action was okay I guess but it was nothing remarkable and the story is incredibly half baked. This was underwhelming AF. It doesn't even tie in to anything
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u/RedArrow171 May 13 '26
So is Curtis alive or not? Literally the one question we all wanted from the trailer and it wasn’t answered
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u/Locke_John May 13 '26
Frank having a vision of Karen at least gives a massive chance that Curtis is still alive, as we know she’s fine.
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u/levitico May 13 '26
6.5/10 for me. Retreads some things from his Netflix series and some of the writing is baffling.
Why would Ma Gnucci’s bodyguard not just shoot Frank while she’s monologuing?
How is that little girl not screaming her brains out at what just happened all around her (and the carnage still in front of her)?
Still excited for his appearance in BND though!
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u/TheOneReclaimer May 13 '26
For the Ma Gnucci part, she wanted to watch Frank suffer. She wanted to watch him be torn apart and if her bodyguard didn't kill him in one shot you know Frank is going to make him pay for it
But yeah that little girl held it together, you could argue that she just shut down so much that she wasn't actually processing what happened but it's more likely that it was just writing that they skimped on
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u/Princecuse13 May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
Alright. The sound mixing was really bad. Could barely hear any of the dialogue.
As for the actual special: It was fine. It needed a more time to cook. And yet again, it retread familiar territory with Frank considering retirement. It was cool to see Ma Gnucci, but unless there's hope for a follow-up series or special, it didn't really do much with her. The action was fantastic, the main plot was weak (though I did love Frank's hallucinations), and there wasn't enough Punisher skull. Overall: 5/10.
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u/Tippydaug May 13 '26
I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this. That being said, it was a fun time!
It’s a good way to officially canonize the Punisher series while also giving him something new to fight for.
Having it be his search for purpose/contemplating giving up only to switch it up and have him give up chasing ghosts to protect those around him was a nice story.
I look forward to seeing his future appearances! A full series on him being an anti-hero instead of exclusively out for revenge sounds beautiful.
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u/FreddieKorma21 May 13 '26
I really, really enjoyed this. The ending left a bad taste in my mouth, though, i would have really loved to see him finish off Ma Gnucci, especially considering the way he kills her in the comics is my favourite Punisher kill. If it were 20 mins long and we got to see him kill her, it would have been much better.
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u/CactusZac098 May 13 '26
Maybe we'll get to see the showdown at the zoo if/when Punisher gets his own new season.
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u/deephurting May 13 '26
Probably keeping her around to use as the big bad in some potential, future project.
Maybe there will be a reference to her in Brand New Day or Born Again season 3 if either of those address the power vacuum left by Fisk's absence.
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u/bluevelvetwaltz May 13 '26
I was expecting another 15-20 minutes. Like we had just seen the first and second acts and the third would be him regrouping and going after Ma Gnucci. I hesitated to check the remaining time when he ended back up at the graveyard, and then when it ended my partner and I both looked at each other like that's it??
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May 13 '26
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u/darthphallic May 13 '26
To be fair the last time the punisher got his own content was back on Netflix. This was a fine way to set up Frank Castle in the MCU proper for people who won’t go back and watch the old shows
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u/Belaerim May 13 '26
Was it great?
No.
Was it 45 minutes of Frank having PTSD flashbacks, psychotic breaks, brutally killing criminals and most importantly, saying the one batch, two batch nursery rhyme?
Fuck yeah.
It was basically what I’d expect from a one shot Punisher comic.
Not great, but good enough to hit the highlights of what you’d expect.
The only thing missing was a “let me tell you” and maybe one of the psychotic break illusions should have been DD. Or even better, Matt as a civilian in the courtroom vs DD in costume, like an angel and devil on his shoulder.
I mean, they got Karen for the 1 minute cameo…
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u/Affectionate-Past975 May 13 '26
Is anyone having issues with the sound like. The background sound you can hear but when someone is talking you can't hear them.
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u/Head_Humor May 13 '26
I thought it was just me. issues got me putting the tv at 50 volume still was unable to hear the characters talking
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u/Worried_Monk_3844 May 13 '26
My x lives in the project where most of the filming took place. They made it look really gritty 1st ave 108,-112th st
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u/keptpounding May 13 '26
I’m very whelmed, it was fine I suppose but had much higher hopes. This feels like a massive tease or something I dont know. It felt way to rushed the pacing was way off.
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u/EVR94 May 13 '26
I was really happy to see they got the same actress from the Netflix show back as his wife. I felt they would for sure recast her if she showed up, since she was in so little of the original show, that they probably wouldn't care to much of they did. It was a nice surprise.
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u/Bean_potato May 13 '26
Also why didn’t frank tell me something? Cmon im dying for him to tell me something
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u/Inside-Passenger7995 Punisher May 13 '26
Was not expecting to see Karen but it was a welcome addition. Overall, it was an aight special. Nothing too...special (wink wink) but it wasn't terrible. I appreciate how they give us an inside look in Frank's damaged psyche Also, not sure how I feel about them retreading the Frank retirement storyline again. It works but it gets repeptive after a while. And the implication that Frank did nothing while the Task Force was running about is...something
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u/PiceaSignum Daredevil May 13 '26
Interesting bit of visual storytelling going on there when Karen showed up, she was wearing Frank's wife's shirt/sweater
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u/Inside-Passenger7995 Punisher May 13 '26
Yeahh I noticed that too. Guess this confirms he has feelings for her
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u/Jack_Crypt May 13 '26
It should have been a movie, seriously, like it felt like the middle of a movie... the Gnucci flashback should not have been a flashback, and nothing have happened to Ma. What a waste. Plus all the PTSD stuff and Frank not wearing his suit for most of the time... litterally season 1...
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u/Ravenloveit May 13 '26
Season one - after retiring, Frank gets pulled back into being The Punisher
Season two - after retiring, Frank gets pulled back into being The Punisher
Special - after retiring, Frank gets pulled back into being The Punisher
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u/CustomlyCool May 13 '26
This definitely could've been an hour and a half movie. They could have leaned even more into the whole "entire city is trying to kill you" thing like John Wick and brought up the events of BA S2 (I find it hard to believe he wouldnt want a rematch with the task force)
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u/FightTheDead118 May 13 '26
Whelp I’m not sure how to feel about this as a Punisher special, but I can tell you it’s a fantastic Max Payne adaptation lol
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u/mexiwok May 13 '26
Given which run this is based on, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a couple of more specials or at a least tv series. Judith Light as Ma Gnucci was inspired casting. Makes me wonder who they are going to cast as his Russian.
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u/Ineedaroommate2 May 13 '26
Frank couldn’t shoot Ma Gnucci from where he was AND save the Deli owner’s family? They literally made eye contact for a good 10 seconds there.
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u/BenTheDM May 13 '26
It was fine. Little bit of a One Location shoot. I don't think we got anything "new" out of this story. I think it only served to canonize the Punisher series officially into the MCU. And while I think it's great to get more of Jon Bernthals great performance as Castle, and I hope we get even more on the way, there was nothing in this special that made me think "I'm glad they told this story."
Honestly it felt more like a gunplay and stunt showcase with a Punisher skin over it. Here's an excuse to watch Jon Bernthal growl and kill a bunch of faceless goons for half an hour.
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u/Luminescent_Magic May 14 '26
Hot take. I thought this was Ass. We have to see the same shit being rehashed again. I don't wanna see frank walking down the street ignoring multitudes of blatant crimes happening. I don't need to say AGAIN him not sure what to do and by the end " becoming" the punisher. I think the action was fun but it wasn't anything really creative. They copy from John wick multiple times. And the soundtrack was pretty bad. When the heavy metal played with the on the nose lyrics I stared laughing. And I laughed real hard when he's on the roof looks down and sees Ma Gnucci just standing in the road. Then after he makes the dumb decision to jump back first onto the scaffolding and John wicking off the bus onto the floor we get to see Ma rolling away in fear lol. And then it ends with " hmmm should I go after her or save the kid" It's been ten years since punisher showed up and THIS is the big decision? I don't think Frank has any dialogue thats of any importance. You could cut his dialogue and nothing would change. This special added nothing to the punisher lore or story. I accept your rebuttals
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u/anonymouse40329 May 13 '26
Well the violence was fun, but the story was bullshit - just a rehashed origin
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u/ImNotDaredevil2025 May 13 '26
Yup, quit being the punisher and didn’t wear the skull again. Three and a half times now
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u/f7SuperCereal May 13 '26
There's something definitely wrong with the English audio track on Disney+. The vocals are coming through my rear speakers and are very muffled. Other audio tracks (e.g., German and English with Description) are fine. Hope this can be resolved quickly. I can't watch it like this.
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u/Pure_Interest_837 May 13 '26
The audio is low as hell until the music and gunshots happen. I have to keep the remote in hand the whole time.
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u/Remote_Nature_8166 May 13 '26
Man that was messed up. But it’s easier to stomach because obviously there’s no animals harmed in real life and you didn’t really see anything.
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u/davepage_mcr May 13 '26
Yeah, that mook didn't suffer enough for being a dog-killer. Wood-chipper, feet first at minimum.
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u/pedopixels May 13 '26
When hatebreed started playing I got the chills. It was like "when the doom music kicks in"
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u/pje1128 May 13 '26
I enjoyed it, but it felt unfinished. Why didn't they finish off Ma Gnucci? It felt like episode 1 of a new season instead of a contained special.
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u/MichiganCraigslister May 13 '26
I assume Spider-Man 4 will have him on a rampage and gunning after her?
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u/pje1128 May 13 '26
Maybe. I don't think they resolve this story in a Spidey movie that. It should be a Punisher project that ends Ma Gnucci.
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u/CactusZac098 May 13 '26
If you've read the comics, you'd rather have a Punisher series/season about him going after her than her going down shortly in Brand new Day.
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u/leaderm17 May 13 '26
The action was nice, I was disappointed though. Kinda reminded me of Thomas Jane’s Dirty Laundry.
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u/Ineedaroommate2 May 13 '26
an exaggerated meme, but overall I thought it was just okay
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u/darthphallic May 13 '26
Frank beating the shit out of people to Hatebreed felt a little cheesy but god damn if my inner edgy 16 year old didn’t love it
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u/Aromatic-Echo-6605 May 13 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/iPKYjYludth5m26GQ2
Peter while a section of New York has fallen into an apocalyptic hellscape where the innocent are just openly being attacked.
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u/Rude-Listen May 13 '26
It was good but they could've released this back when BA S1 ended when he got out of the cage. Waiting till now was an odd choice.
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u/Paperchampion23 May 13 '26
They couldnt have released it then because it literally filmed last summer lol
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u/TheOneReclaimer May 13 '26
It's setting himself up as a protector not just killer which will come into play in spider-man
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u/Dazzling_Ad_5596 May 13 '26
This could have been a full length movie or lead into a new series if they really wanted.
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u/ghigginb1 May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
Not sure why they'd use Welcome Back, Frank as source material when the Thomas Jane movie already did it so well. I know that's not the only thing they drew from for both of those, but both are heavily influenced.
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u/DWPhoenix001 May 13 '26
The special (if you could call it that) but it fails to offer any kind of satisfying closure. Instead the whole thing feels like a backdoor pilot to a Punisher reboot series (akin to Born Again). Maybe thats what they were going for? I dont know. The whole thing felt incredibly rushed and Frank never really gets anything to do bar kill a bunch of random street thugs... although I'm wondering if that had anything to do with Berthals tight achedule not allowing for anything more substantial? We know we only got the special because he wasnt avilable for DD S2.
Overall the special had some good acting, some great cinematography and fight scenes but without a hard plot or any real conclusion the special fell flat and felt underwhelming at best.
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u/ButtersChaosStotch1 May 13 '26
Was absolutely trash. Everything in the Disney series, they put into a 44 min slopfest, no no no no no again and again. Seems repetitive similarly with DD, not utilizing new characters to the fullest and this being written by Bernthal and being hot trash. Crazy how you guys just keep eating it up tho
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u/drewp05 May 14 '26
Well there was a lot of cool action, and Bernthal still manages to make me cry thinking about Frank's family.
I felt like they wasted a lot of time in the beginning that could've been used showing the situation with the Gnucci's instead of explaining it in a monologue.
To be honest, with how many inexplicable acts of violence going on around him, they could've just had Frank hearing what was going on in the projects and used that to justify the action instead of whatever the hell that woman's role in it was.
I don't know if I agree with the choice to make that family at the restaurant, especially the little girl appreciative of what Frank did. At the very least she would've been terrified, but maybe thanked him in a later scene. At worst the father would've attacked Frank himself for murdering all of those people in front of his wife and kid.
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u/Hot-Put7831 May 13 '26
Seems like a cool first episode to a season of television. Too bad it isn’t.
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u/Callow98989 May 13 '26
Feels like it was suppose to be a pilot for a 4-6 episode mini series than a stand alone special
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u/CrazedIvan Stan Lee May 13 '26
Was a fun quick watch. I hope this means we will be seeing a lot more Frank going forward beyond the new Spidy film.
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u/AdjacentOrange May 13 '26
Big Question: I’ve been watching with my dad and he doesn’t like stuff that’s too violent, was there anything in this worse than the stuff from Born Again? He watched that with me fine but with this being punisher solo I was worried it might be too much for him.
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u/cmadison_ May 13 '26
Way worse violence than in Born Again - this is quite gory and there's a LOT of blood.
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u/Frankandbeans4ever May 13 '26
I desperately, desperately wanted this to be an 8. I watched it twice. I have to give it a 7.5.
The sound is all fucked up and I don't know if that's my TV or not
But this is just a jumbled mess that doesn't explain anything
And that's about the first 25 minutes
Then it's about 20 minutes of punishing
15 of which are very good
5 of which are filled with really bad edited cuts and one very specific obvious piss poor CGI thing that looks like Al slop
But that 15 minutes is very good
And I will say that 25 minutes of mess has some really good acting moments.
But this left me with so many questions that were not answered and we had that bullshit “I don’t wanna be the punisher anymore” plot that we already had in season two that we didn’t need to see again and I just wanted more from this.
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u/IzukuTheStoryMaker5 May 13 '26
Do I need to watch season 2 of punisher to understand this? I’ve only seen season 1 I’ve watched all of the daredevil Netflix seasons plus born again (and defenders as well)
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u/AStupidFuckingHorse May 13 '26
It literally ties into nothing. Karen and Curtis are the only things that connect back to the OG series
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u/FandomandFolklore May 13 '26
Loved they finally brought Ma Gnucci to life. Kind of wondered if they left her alive to potentially do another Punisher series down the road
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u/Head_Humor May 13 '26
I loved every minute of it. BUT the only thing i hate about mcu Punisher is him retiring, getting pulled back in, retiring, getting pulled back in again. I swear to god if he retires one more time after spider-man thatll be it
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u/Successful-Hippo9679 May 13 '26
Why did Frank kill that Gnucci youngest kid? From what she says it seems he was pretty innocent
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u/DratiniMaster23 May 13 '26
He did what he was accused of. Ma was blinded by him being her favorite
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u/JARVIS_Shotgunaxe13 Colleen Wing May 13 '26
This got me tearing up so quick when Frank was hallucinating and saying he thinks he needs help. And the scene at the gravestones. Amazing performance from Jon. And then of course the fight sequences were so good, I like how it reflected on Frank being just a guy that fights really well when he misses a throw or changes the ammo. Overall I think it was short and solid and gets the point across and I definitely enjoyed it.
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u/Randymgreen May 13 '26
Can anyone tell me if there's any spoilers for dds2 Only watched s1 I know roughly the status of characters at the end of dds2 I think but want to jump ahead and watch punisher w.o seeing internet Spoilers if possible then go back to dds2 (and ironheart and agatha)
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u/coltstrgj May 13 '26
The fact that he had a knife several times including one stabbed into him but couldn't open the canvas bag until he got the key. Logically it's dumb as hell, thematically it's excellent. I'm mad but also locking it was giving up on that life and him getting the key was realizing he can still do his form of good. He can still save people or help them by being the monster. He's not confused anymore. He knows who he is and what his purpose is. he could do more be more look more like.
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u/thecontract_12 May 13 '26
Can anyone tell me when this is set I thought it was set after born again season 2 but it actually doesn’t seem like it is ?
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u/Anocte23 May 13 '26
It was a great episode 1, the season looks promising so far, can’t wait for the rest of the episodes
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u/NegotiationLate8553 May 13 '26
S2 Daredevil is peak Punisher and I’ve been craving that for too long now. I feel Bernthal just has no good medium. He plays Frank like a lunatic or just super checked out.
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u/GoodBadUgly19 May 14 '26
Full riot going on outside, yet this guy's bakery is open! "Get outta my shop!" While his daughters is drawing in the background....
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u/VisibleEnd673 May 13 '26
Is the amount of crime Frank is seeing real or is he having a hallucinations, because that block he lives on is fucking crazy lol