The Punisher: One Last Kill — release date, trailer, confirmed cast, and more about the Marvel TV Special on Disney+

The Punisher: One Last Kill will be the next Marvel TV Special to debut on Disney+. Starring Jon Bernthal as the titular anti-hero, the hour-long Marvel Phase 6 feature will reunite us with the titular anti-hero as he embarks on yet another ultraviolent quest.

So, what do we know about it so far? To paraphrase Frank, lemme tell you sumthin' else about the forthcoming Disney+ special. In this guide, you'll learn about its confirmed launch date, trailer, potential impact on at least one future Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movie, and more besides. So, what are you waiting for? Dive in!

The Punisher: One Last Kill release date

Marvel confirmed The Punisher TV Special's release date and official title in late March. At that time, the comic book titan revealed it'll premiere on Tuesday, May 12 (North and South America) and Wednesday, May 13 (everywhere else).

For those unaware, that means One Last Kill will come out one week after Daredevil: Born Again season 2's final episode. It'll be interesting, then, to see if its events run concurrently with Born Again's latest chapter or not.

The Punisher: One Last Kill trailer

A Marvel Television Special Presentation: The Punisher: One Last Kill | Official Trailer - YouTube

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The first trailer for The Punisher: One Last Kill was released on April 9 — and it arrived just 48 hours after a mid-season teaser for Daredevil: Born Again season 2 revealed the first very brief shots of One Last Kill.

Naturally, its first footage doesn't give too much away about its plot. Nonetheless, I've tackled the four biggest talking points from One Last Kill's trailer, so read that to get my thoughts on what might happen.

The Punisher: One Last Kill confirmed cast

So far, The Punisher: One Last Kill only has two confirmed cast members:

• Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/The Punisher
• Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle

Despite the release of its first trailer, the rest of the MCU TV Special's roster is yet to be publicly revealed.

Technically, that includes Moore's return as Hoyle. However, thanks to behind-the-scenes images shared by X/Twitter user DaredevilShots, we already knew he would reprise his role as the former Navy SARC. With Moore also featuring in One Last Kill's first trailer, he's all but confirmed to return, too.

For the uninitiated: Hoyle was one of Castle's closest allies in Netflix's universe of Marvel TV shows. In that franchise, Hoyle lost a leg in active service but, here, it looks like he'll only be a figment of Castle's imagination. The reason? Hoyle must have been killed off-screen, so I'm sure we'll find out how and why this happened in due course.

Like any Marvel project these days, there are rumors about who else might show up.

Last July, DaredevilShots also shared images of Castle meeting a wheelchair-bound character in a kids' playground (see below), with many fans believing this is Ma Gnucci. In the comics, she's the leader of the Gnucci Crime Family who holds a specific grudge against Castle.

While there's no word on which actor might be playing her, she's all but confirmed to appear now, too. Indeed, One Last Kill's first round of footage showed Castle standing in front of a venue called Gnucci's. Unless this is a deep-cut Easter egg, I expect to see Ma Gnucci in The Punisher's upcoming TV Special.

Lastly, it's possible that Sadie Sink could feature in some capacity.

Sink was confirmed as part of the cast of Spider-Man: Brand New Day (more on this film shortly) last March. Since then, rumors have circulated that, in the forthcoming movie, her mystery character will be under Castle's protection. If true, the Stranger Things star might cameo in One Last Kill before her enigmatic individual and Castle rock up in Spider-Man 4.

The Punisher: One Last Kill story synopsis and speculation

Full spoilers immediately follow for Daredevil: Born Again season 1.

Here's the official logline for The Punisher: One Last Kill: "Frank Castle searches for meaning beyond revenge, when an unexpected force pulls him back into the fight."

Little to go on, then, but at least we know we'll be reunited us with Castle sometime after Daredevil: Born Again season 1's finale. Indeed, in one of that episode's post-credits scenes, Castle escapes the Red Hook prison facility where enemies of Wilson Fisk, aka New York City's tyrannical mayor, have been incarcerated.

The Punisher isn't set to appear at any point in Born Again 2, either, which raises some intriguing questions.

For one, what has he been up to since we last saw him? I imagine he'll have been lying low to avoid Fisk's anti-vigilante task force, who'll surely be searching for him after his jailbreak. However, Ma Gnucci might make him raise his head above the parapet and embark on another solo crusade to take her out, which would surely relate to the One Last Kill subtitle of his Disney+ Special Presentation.

The next big question many fans will have is where this project sits on the MCU timeline. Some have speculated that its story will run concurrently with that of Born Again season 2, which would explain Castle's absence in that show's latest installment. It makes perfect sense to me, but we'll have to wait until One Last Kill is released to know for sure.

Lastly, two further brainteasers remain. Will Sink's mystery character show up and/or be tied to Ma Gnucci? And, if said enigmatic individual appears before The Punisher: One Last Kill's end credits crawl, will it directly lead into Spider-Man's next MCU adventure? I can't provide answers on the former, but where the latter is concerned...

How will The Punisher: One Last Kill impact future Marvel projects?

It's already common knowledge that The Punisher is in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Indeed, after reports all but confirmed Bernthal's casting in Spider-Man 4 last June, his appearance was officially revealed in Spider-Man: Brand New Day's first trailer.

So, how will One Last Kill impact the next Marvel movie's plot? I can't say for sure, but if I'm right in thinking Sink's MCU character will appear in The Punisher's Disney+ Special, the pair's respective arcs in Spider-Man 4 should pick up where they left off in The Punisher: One Last Kill.

We already know that Born Again season 2 and Brand New Day are connected in some way — Marvel's Head of TV Brad Winderbaum admitted as much in a chat with Entertainment Weekly last October. In my view, given Castle's ties to Daredevil's MCU TV show, it's a stretch to say that One Last Kill will simply be a standalone tale. I believe it'll be closely linked to Tom Holland's next outing as the iconic webslinger, so don't be surprised if the TV Special's ending has some bearing on Spider-Man 4's plot.

In the meantime, find out everything we know so far about Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Then, learn who'll appear alongside Holland, Bernthal, and Sink via my Spider-Man 4 cast and character guide.

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