Jon Bernthal is back as Frank Castle, and this time his Punisher story arrives on Disney+ as a Special Presentation on Tuesday, May 12. The project, titled The Punisher: One Last Kill, also marks Bernthal's return to the character in a format Marvel has used before for Guardians of the Galaxy and Werewolf by Night.
The release matters because it is the first project led by a non-Daredevil character from The Defenders Saga since Marvel brought those shows back and confirmed them as MCU canon. Bernthal also co-wrote The Punisher: One Last Kill, giving the character's return a sharper sense of control than a standard franchise handoff.
The timing places the special in the middle of Marvel's TV push just ahead of a crowded 2026. Charlie Cox returned as Matt Murdock in Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021, then led Daredevil: Born Again season 1 in 2025. Daredevil: Born Again season 2 is currently airing, Jessica Jones has returned in that season, and Luke Cage and Iron Fist were spotted in Daredevil: Born Again season 3 set photos.
That leaves The Punisher: One Last Kill as the next step in Marvel's slow rebuild of the Netflix-era characters inside the MCU, but with one important difference: this time the spotlight is not on Daredevil. Spider-Man: Brand New Day is scheduled for July 2026, and Avengers: Doomsday is positioned to debut in December 2026, so the Punisher special lands as part of the stretch before Marvel's next theatrical wave takes over.
The question now is less whether Bernthal will return than whether Marvel treats this as a one-off or the start of a broader push for the characters it has already folded back into continuity. The title says One Last Kill, but the rollout suggests Frank Castle is being used to open a chapter, not close one.