In The Punisher: One Last Kill, we learn that Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) actually eliminated most of the Gnucci crime family prior to the events of the Special Presentation.
Matriarch "Ma" Gnucci (Judith Light) confronts the unhinged antihero about halfway through, informing the man who brutally killed her husband and sons that she has put a bounty on his head, and he will soon be hunted down by every vicious thug in the vicinity.
Gnucci is accompanied by a steely-looking individual (Jamall Johnson) known only as "Barry" in the credits, and director Reinaldo Marcus Green has now confirmed the theories that this was supposed to be Barracuda.
"I mean, it’s just nasty, gross and amazing," the filmmaker tells The Mary Sue. "They really went there!… We want to pay homage to the comics. But, also make our own thing. And, hopefully the special stands alone in it. In its own way! The Ma Gnucci character was just so much fun. And, obviously, hopefully a wink to Barracuda and whatever can come from that in the future of the MCU."
Johnson also hinted at his character's identity with the below Instagram post.
In the comics, Barracuda was one of Castle's most dangerous foes, indulging in all manner of atrocities, including rape, mass murder, and cannibalism. Marvel has proven that they're not afraid to get their hands dirty, so to speak, with One Last Kill, but if Barracuda does return to the MCU, expect his predilections to be toned down just a little!
“John really built this character in that special way through a lot of that military kind of support that he had early on,” Green went on. “And, then when I came into it, it was really about building the cinematic language to help bring the story to life! How do we open it up to people that are non-Punisher fans or people that don’t know the Punisher? And, where does this live, and how do we cinematically bring this to a larger audience? I think that was the balance between our relationship, and I love John for the man that he is.”
The Punisher: One Last Kill is currently "Certified Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes, but its score has dropped to 77%.
Check out Johnson's post below, along with a pair of new clips.