The Punisher: One Last Kill has received positive reviews from fans and critics, but there's one not-so-great scene that everyone is talking about.
As you can see in the X post below, the shot of Frank Castle falling from a rooftop appears to include unfinished visual effects. However, is it all as it seems, or is social media making much ado about nothing?
Upon closer inspection, we don't think this is the "PS3 cutscene" that many have dismissed it as. The body is seemingly real and likely belongs to a stuntman, with VFX used to replace his face with Jon Bernthal's. However, the frame rate and uncanny valley feel of the actor's CG doppelganger lead to this looking like a bad visual effect.
While it could do with a polish, it's Bernthal's CG face that seems to be the biggest issue here. Hopefully, the vocal "backlash" will prompt Marvel Studios to take another pass at this, as it does stick out in an otherwise flawless action sequence.
The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that, writing, "A source close to the production tells [us] that this is a real in-camera shot. Bernthal performed the beginning of the fall, and his stuntman took over for the impact shot. There is some VFX, however, which might explain some of the wonkiness — the stuntman’s face was swapped for Bernthal’s."
There were also audio issues with The Punisher: One Last Kill, which Disney+ is reportedly working to fix as we write this.
During an interview with Esquire, the actor opened up on some of the pitches he's heard in recent years about potential new approaches to the MCU's Punisher.
"Every iteration over the last few years, they were like, 'What if we found him and he’s now teaching English?' These were literally things that they were pitching," Bernthal revealed. "'What if he’s a chess grand master now?' I was like, 'Look, dude, the one thing I’m not going to do with fans is take a giant jump.'"
In the Special Presentation, as Frank Castle searches for meaning beyond revenge, an unexpected force pulls him back into the fight.
The Punisher: One Last Kill is directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green and written by Jon Bernthal & Reinaldo Marcus Green, based on the Marvel Comics. The executive producers are Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, Sana Amanat, Jon Bernthal, Reinaldo Marcus Green, with Trevor Watson serving as co-executive producer and Eleena Khamedoost as supervising producer.
"Marvel meets The Raid in The Punisher: One Last Kill, a relentless, no-holds-barred exploration of grief and PTSD, and an ultra-violent, pitch-perfect take on The Punisher," we wrote in our review. "This is Jon Bernthal's magnum opus as Frank Castle."
The Punisher: One Last Kill is now streaming on Disney+. Also included below are some new behind-the-scenes photos from the Special Presentation.