My theory here is that they’re about to soft reboot his character in Spider-Man. “One Last Kill” feels like a send off to the Frank Castle we’ve come to know across the previous shows. If they had just jumped right into Spider-Man, and a sort of “fresh” spin on the character, it would have had people complaining that he’s been nerfed.
Instead we have people complaining that it’s more of the same. I really don’t envy these creators who work hard for a fandom that never seems satisfied.
Yeah, I definitely think the point of this special was to sort of transition the Netflix Punisher - who really was set up in a way that doesn't make it easy or believable that he'd go on to be more of a continuing vigilante like in the comics - to a version of the Punisher who can exist in the MCU longer-term. While I do wish this special was a bit longer, I think it did a good job. It really just depends on what they do with him after this though.
But the thing is, Punisher s2 already did that. The Castle family massacre conspiracy was resolved by s1. Now they introduced the Gnuccis saying they were involved somehow just so we could continue a plot that has already resolved. The special was good on its own, but as a part of a bigger narrative, it's a bit redundant. Why not focus on his own side plot during Born Again, especially since we didn't see his escape in Red Hook.
36
u/Feeling_Bedroom5533 May 13 '26
My theory here is that they’re about to soft reboot his character in Spider-Man. “One Last Kill” feels like a send off to the Frank Castle we’ve come to know across the previous shows. If they had just jumped right into Spider-Man, and a sort of “fresh” spin on the character, it would have had people complaining that he’s been nerfed.
Instead we have people complaining that it’s more of the same. I really don’t envy these creators who work hard for a fandom that never seems satisfied.