Marvel's The Punisher: One Last Kill is now streaming on Disney+, and while the 49-minute Special Presentation is a mostly standalone story, it does feature one major Daredevil: Born Again cameo... though the actor in question isn't really playing their character.
If you haven't watched yet, beware of spoilers from this point on.
When we catch up with Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal), he is not in a good place - to say the very least. Haunted by faces from his past and still unable to come to terms with the deaths of his family, the increasingly unhinged vigilante is very close to giving up and taking his own life.
Frank sees his old friend Curtis Hoyle (Jason R. Moore), as well as other members of his marine unit, and when he returns from visiting his daughter's grave, Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) drops by for a chat.
Page and Castle formed a close bond in the Netflix shows, and we saw that she still has feelings for him during her scene with Heather Glenn in the penultimate episode of Born Again season 2. The version of Karen who appears to Frank is far from a sympathetic shoulder to cry on, however, and manifests as the immense guilt and shame he feels about not being there for his family when they needed him most.
"Karen" - who is wearing the same hoodie we see Frank's late wife in during the flashback - ultimately softens and comforts Castle, telling him that he still has work to do. Here, Frank is basically giving himself permission to continue being the Punisher.
What did you make of Woll's cameo and the Special overall? Let us know in the comments.
Director Reinaldo Marcus Green was asked about the somewhat confusing title during an interview with The Direct, and explained that it's actually a "misdirect."
"Well, obviously, Marvel has a lot of hand in the titles and that regard. I think for fans, though, like you said, once they see it, they'll understand it, and I think that's what's most important. So I think, yeah, it's a misdirect in the best way. I think it's one of those situations where you hear it, you're like, 'Wait, is this the end of The Punisher?' And when you realize that maybe it's not, I think that makes it even more cool."
Green hopes that fans come away surprised by how the Special wraps up.
"So, for me, I think whatever draws the audience into subverting their expectations. I think it's fun as a filmmaker. For me, it's all about subverting that. You know, you're gonna go on an action journey... 'Oh, okay, we're 20 minutes in, and we're not! What's going on here?' So I think for us, it's always trying to look for ways to subvert, and I think the title does that. Hopefully it does it in a way that doesn't annoy people and makes people satisfied when they see the end."