Punisher: One Last Kill and Every Frank Castle Appearance

The short version

Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle is in two places at once right now. The Punisher: One Last Kill, the Marvel Television special presentation he co-wrote, has been streaming on Disney+ in the United States and the United Kingdom since 12 May 2026, and on JioHotstar in India since the early morning of 13 May. Separately, Frank Castle appears in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which opened in Indian cinemas on 30 July 2026, in the United Kingdom on 29 July, and in the United States on 31 July.

You do not need to have watched a decade of Marvel to follow either one. You need five things in a specific order, and in each country almost all of them sit behind a single subscription: Disney+ in the US and UK, JioHotstar in India. The full order, with the current platform for every entry, is in the table below.

The Punisher: One Last Kill, confirmed details

This is not a series and it is not a film in the usual sense. Marvel released it under its "special presentation" format, the same one-off slot used for shorter Marvel Television projects. It runs about 51 minutes according to streaming listings, roughly 45 of which are before the credits roll.

Reinaldo Marcus Green directed. Green and Bernthal share the writing credit, which is unusual for a Marvel project and worth noting if you are trying to work out why this one feels different in tone. Kris Bowers composed the score and Robert Elswit shot it, with Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Brad Winderbaum, Sana Amanat, Bernthal and Green executive producing. Filming took place in New York City in the summer of 2025, back to back with Bernthal's work on the Spider-Man film.

Alongside Bernthal, the cast includes Judith Light as Ma Gnucci, Deborah Ann Woll returning as Karen Page and Jason R. Moore returning as Curtis Hoyle. Andre Royo and Kelli Barrett also appear.

Where to watch it right now

In the United States and the United Kingdom it is a Disney+ exclusive. There is no theatrical run, no digital purchase option and no other subscription platform carrying it. In India it is exclusive to JioHotstar, which holds the Disney library locally. It is not on Netflix or Prime Video in any of those three markets.

The drop time was 6pm PT on 12 May 2026, which is 9pm ET the same evening and 6:30am IST on 13 May. That single time difference is the reason you will see two different release dates quoted, and both are correct depending on where you were sitting.

Ratings differ by country

This matters more than usual here, because the special is genuinely violent. Marvel classified it TV-MA, US streaming listings show it as R rated, the UK listing carries an 18 certificate, and the Indian listing on JioHotstar carries an A. Profiles with parental controls will need the adult PIN before it plays. If you are used to the PG-13 register of most Marvel output, treat this as a different thing entirely.

How it was received

As of 30 July 2026, One Last Kill holds a 73 percent Tomatometer score from 73 critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 79 percent audience score. Metacritic lists a Metascore of 63 from 15 critics, in its "generally favorable" band, with a 6.6 user score. Note that a lot of the coverage you will find still quotes the launch-week numbers, which were higher and drawn from a much smaller review pool. The scores above are the current ones.

Reviewers were fairly consistent: the action and Bernthal's performance carried it, and the short runtime was the most common complaint, with several critics arguing there was not enough room for anything beyond the central study of grief and post-traumatic stress. Rotten Tomatoes' own critics consensus credits Bernthal as the definitive screen interpretation of the character. It is reported to have held a place on the Disney+ global top ten movies list from launch into early July, though Disney does not publish granular viewing figures.

Frank Castle in Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Bernthal's Frank Castle is a supporting character in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and this is his first appearance in a theatrical Marvel Studios film after a decade of playing the role on television. Destin Daniel Cretton directed, from a script by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers. It runs 145 minutes and is rated PG-13, distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The main cast includes Tom Holland, Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Jacob Batalon, Mark Ruffalo, Florence Pugh, Tramell Tillman and Michael Mando.

The obvious question, given the special above is effectively an adult-rated film, is how a character defined by lethal force fits into a PG-13 Spider-Man movie. Speaking to Empire ahead of release, Holland acknowledged the concern directly and said the world built around Castle stays true to the version audiences know, while Bernthal argued the character has not been softened for the new setting.

What critics actually said about the performance

Reviews landed on 28 July 2026 and Bernthal came out of them well. Consequence's Liz Shannon Miller singled him out as the highlight of the cast, describing the friction between Castle and Peter Parker as the film's most enjoyable running thread. TheWrap's William Bibbiani wrote that "Jon Bernthal is a perfect foil for Tom Holland", framing the pairing as a comic double act. Bleeding Cool's Kaitlyn Booth called the Frank and Peter dynamic one of the standouts, and David Rooney at The Hollywood Reporter credited the prickly rapport between the two with giving the film extra emotional weight.

It was not unanimous. IndieWire's review was broadly negative on the film and dismissed Bernthal's Frank Castle as a hilariously useless Punisher. Variety was lukewarm overall, though it still described his work as a likably disgruntled turn. As of 30 July 2026 the film sits at 91 percent on Rotten Tomatoes from 211 critic reviews, with a Metacritic score reported at 70.

Where and when to see it

Cinemas only, for now. India got it a day ahead of the United States, on 30 July 2026, playing in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada across 2D, 3D, IMAX, 4DX and MX4D. The United Kingdom opened on 29 July, and the United States on 31 July. There is no announced streaming or digital date. More on that in the "not confirmed" section below.

Every Jon Bernthal Frank Castle appearance, in order

Watch order and release order are the same here, which makes this easy. The table gives the current platform in each region. Everything was checked against streaming listings on 29 and 30 July 2026.

Order	Title	US and UK	India
1	Daredevil season 2 (2016)	Disney+	JioHotstar, also listed on Vi movies and tv
2	The Punisher season 1 (2017)	Disney+	JioHotstar, also listed on Vi movies and tv
3	The Punisher season 2 (2019)	Disney+	JioHotstar, also listed on Vi movies and tv
4	Daredevil: Born Again season 1 (2025)	Disney+	JioHotstar
5	The Punisher: One Last Kill (2026)	Disney+	JioHotstar
6	Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)	In cinemas	In cinemas

Notes on each entry

Daredevil season 2 premiered on Netflix on 18 March 2016 and is where Bernthal's Frank Castle is introduced. All three Daredevil seasons ran 13 episodes each. The series left Netflix on 1 March 2022 and arrived on Disney+ on 16 March 2022 in the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, rolling out to remaining Disney+ markets later that year. It is no longer on Netflix anywhere.

The Punisher ran two seasons of 13 episodes, launching on Netflix on 17 November 2017 and 18 January 2019, and was cancelled on 18 February 2019. It made the same move to Disney+ in March 2022. This is the deepest version of the character on screen, and the one part of the order you can technically skip, though you will lose the Curtis Hoyle connection that One Last Kill leans on.

Daredevil: Born Again season 1 ran nine episodes from 4 March to 15 April 2025 on Disney+. Frank Castle is a guest presence rather than a regular: he is introduced in episode four and returns in the season finale itself, plus a short scene that plays during that episode's credits.

Daredevil: Born Again season 2 ran eight episodes from 24 March to 5 May 2026, reaching India on JioHotstar from 25 March. Bernthal is not in it. Executive producer Sana Amanat confirmed ahead of the season that Castle would not appear and that his story would continue in One Last Kill instead, with his commitments to the special and the Spider-Man film cited as the scheduling reason. You can skip it for Punisher purposes, though it is good television on its own terms.

Spoilers ahead

Stop here if you have not seen Daredevil: Born Again season 1 or One Last Kill.

Born Again season 1 ends with Wilson Fisk declaring martial law and imprisoning Frank Castle at Red Hook, and a scene during the finale's credits shows him tricking a guard to engineer his escape. One Last Kill picks up from that thread. In the special, Castle is trying to live without the Punisher identity after avenging his family, and is pulled back in when the crime boss Ma Gnucci puts a bounty on him. Hallucinations and visions of people from his past, including his dead daughter Lisa and his dead wife Maria, run through the whole thing. Chronologically the special sits after Born Again and before Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

What is not confirmed

There is a lot of speculation circulating about Frank Castle's future, and very little of it is official. Here is the honest split.

• No sequel to One Last Kill has been announced. Reports sourced to industry scoopers claim Marvel has greenlit a follow-up project, but there is no announcement from Marvel or Disney. Treat it as rumour.
• No new Punisher series has been announced. Same status as above.
• No theatrical Punisher film has been announced. Director Reinaldo Marcus Green has said publicly that he and Bernthal would like one. A stated wish is not a greenlight.
• Bernthal has not signed on to anything further. In an Esquire interview published in May 2026 he said he is willing to keep playing the role but wants to be the one driving how it gets made. That is a condition, not a deal.
• No streaming or digital date for Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Sony has not announced one. Widely repeated predictions that it lands on Netflix first, under Sony's output arrangement, before eventually reaching Disney platforms, are informed guesswork and nothing more.
• Daredevil: Born Again season 3 is confirmed, with reporting pointing to a 2027 window, but no Frank Castle appearance in it has been announced.
• The next confirmed Frank Castle release is a comic, not a screen project. Marvel Comics has dated a Marvel Zombies: War Zone limited series starring the character for 2 September 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I watch The Punisher: One Last Kill?

Disney+ in the United States and the United Kingdom. JioHotstar in India. It is exclusive to those platforms and is not available to buy or rent.

Is The Punisher: One Last Kill on Netflix?

No. Bernthal's earlier Punisher work started on Netflix, but all of it moved to Disney+ in March 2022. The 2026 special was made for Disney+ and has never been on Netflix.

How long is The Punisher: One Last Kill?

Around 51 minutes including credits, per streaming listings. It is a single special presentation, not a series, so there are no other episodes to look for.

Do I need to watch Daredevil: Born Again before it?

Season 1 helps, because the special picks up directly from where that season leaves Frank Castle. Season 2 is not required, since Bernthal does not appear in it.

Is Jon Bernthal in Daredevil: Born Again season 2?

No. Marvel confirmed his absence before the season aired, and pointed viewers to One Last Kill for the continuation of that storyline.

Is the Punisher in Spider-Man: Brand New Day?

Yes. Bernthal plays Frank Castle in a supporting role, his first appearance as the character in a theatrical Marvel film.

When will Spider-Man: Brand New Day be on streaming?

No date has been announced. It opened in cinemas on 29, 30 and 31 July 2026 in the UK, India and the US respectively, and any streaming date you see quoted right now is a prediction.

What order should I watch Jon Bernthal's Punisher in?

Daredevil season 2, then The Punisher seasons 1 and 2, then Daredevil: Born Again season 1, then One Last Kill, then Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Release order and story order are identical.

What to watch next

If you have worked through the Frank Castle list and want the wider picture around this summer's Spider-Man release, our Spider-Man: Brand New Day release and cast guide covers the film itself in more detail. For the Daredevil side of the story, see the Born Again season 2 finale and where to watch guide.

Our Sadie Sink roles guide tracks where to stream the rest of her work, and Spider-Man Noir on Prime Video covers a very different corner of the same universe. For more morally compromised vigilante television, our breakdown of The Boys series finale is the closest neighbour to this one.

To build your own list by platform, mood or region, use Discover and filter to what you can actually stream where you are.