With Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 now in the rearview and Season 3 at least a year away, Marvel Television has shifted focus to its next big release, The Punisher: One Last Kill.
Ahead of the Special Presentation's release on Disney+ next Tuesday, we have three posters that begin the countdown to next Tuesday.
Showing Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle rocking three different looks, all signs point to the vigilante being taken on quite the ride when he makes his MCU return a few days from now. We still don't know what became of him after he escaped The Kingpin's makeshift prison, so that's the first big question we have for the Special.
Then, there's how it sets up The Punisher's role in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the first time this version of the anti-hero will be put front and centre in a PG-13 setting.
"That came out of a lot of discussions with Jon over the years. I know that Jon had been talking to the people at Marvel and had a very specific idea in mind about what happened to Frank after the end of the 'Punisher' series," Scardapane revealed. "He came in so graciously, gratefully and wonderfully in Season 1 for a pretty eye-popping pair of scenes."
"That got him, Reinaldo and the producers talking about a Punisher special. So, yeah, not having Jon in Season 2 more reflects about the story he wanted to tell with the Punisher special," he noted, before suggesting that this Special Presentation somehow bridges the gap between The Punisher Season 2 on Netflix, Daredevil: Born Again Season 1's ending, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
"I don’t know a ton about what goes on in 'Brand New Day,' and I know very well where we left him at the end of 'Punisher' Season 2," Scardapane shared. "I think this tells the story of what happened next after 'Punisher' and before and during the events of ['Born Again'] Season 2."
Reading between the lines, it seems The Punisher: One Last Kill will tie up some loose plot threads from Frank's last solo adventure, explain why he didn't help the Man Without Fear take down The Kingpin, and set the stage for his big screen debut alongside Spider-Man and The Hulk.
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 premieres on May 12.