Punisher TV special release date and title revealed, and they could be a major clues

1 week ago 7

Published Mar 24, 2026, 11:02 AM EDT

One last kill... until he ends up hunting Spider-Man in July, that is

Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/The Punisher on Marvel’s The Punisher(2017), Netflix.

The MCU's Punisher TV special is coming soon, and its release date is raising questions as to what the future holds for Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle. Titled The Punisher: One Last Kill, the "Marvel Television Special Presentation" will release on May 12 on Disney Plus — exactly one week after the season 2 finale of Daredevil: Born Again airs.

Bernthal returned as the Punisher last year for a guest-starring role in the first season of Daredevil: Born Again. The final episode found him captured by Mayor Wilson Fisk's Anti-Vigilante Task Force, and a mid-credits scene teased his escape. It's unclear if he'll return for Born Again's second season (different rumors say different things), but the timing of the Punisher special does make one wonder.

As Daredevil: Born Again finds Charlie Cox's Daredevil amassing a group to battle Fisk, including a returning Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones, thematically it makes sense for the Punisher to join the fray at some point. The special could serve as an epilogue of sorts for season 2 based on the timing, but that's anyone's guess. Plot details have not been revealed yet.

The subtitle One Last Kill is interesting here as well. It seems to imply this is Castle's last rodeo, or even that he'll meet an untimely end, yet we know both those things aren't true. Bernthal is confirmed to star in July's Spider-Man: Brand New Day. We're not sure how large a role he'll have in the film, but he does play a prominent role in the first trailer.

Brand New Day is seemingly taking cues from the '90s animated Spider-Man show, specifically an arc where Peter turns into the monstrous Man-Spider. The Punisher may end up hunting him in the film, just like he did in the animated series.

For now, we have a lot of questions about what Marvel's plans are for the Punisher. We'll have to wait until The Punisher: One Last Kill streams on Disney Plus on May 12 for some answers.

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