Remember that time Thomas Magnum shot a guy? Not in self-defense, mind you — he just raised his gun and put a bullet in his unarmed adversary. I’m talking about the 1980s crime drama television series “Magnum, P.I.,” which featured a 30-something Tom Selleck in his most iconic role as private investigator Thomas Magnum. More specifically, I’m talking about the two-part season 3 premier episode, “Did You See the Sunrise?”
The antagonist on the receiving end of Magnum’s wrath is a Soviet KGB colonel named Ivan, played by Bo Svenson. During the Vietnam War, Ivan held Magnum and several others captive. In the episode, the bad guy is stalking his former war prisoners and killing them, while also assassinating various diplomats and dignitaries. Lieutenant “Mac” MacReynolds (Jeff MacKay) is killed by a car bomb set by Ivan that was meant for Magnum.
The authorities cannot detain or prosecute Ivan due to his diplomatic immunity. And that is how we reach that final, shocking scene.
Written by Donald P. Bellisario, the episode is a watershed moment in television history. Up until that moment, crime drama protagonists weren’t known for executing unarmed villains in cold blood. TV heroes had never stepped into the role of judge, jury and executioner. The episode paved the way for morally gray antiheroes in subsequent decades. The impact of that scene — which I watched as a teenager when it was originally broadcast — is still staggering.
And then there’s Frank Castle, aka the Punisher. The Punisher made his first appearance in “The Amazing Spider-Man,” issue 129, in 1974. In the pages of Marvel Comics, the Punisher was among the first in a wave of psychologically troubled antiheroes, exhibiting the effects of post-traumatic stress, extreme grief and obsession. The Punisher is more than an antihero: He’s a full-blown vigilante. That is abundantly clear in “The Punisher: One Last Kill,” billed as a “Marvel Television Special Presentation” and released on May 12 on Disney+ as part of Phase Six of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Marvel doesn’t give us much to go on in its official project profile. The one-sentence synopsis tells us this: As Frank Castle searches for meaning beyond revenge, an unexpected force pulls him back into the fight.
Castle is portrayed by Jon Bernthal, reprising the role from the 2-season Netflix series “The Punisher,” which is set in the MCU. The action takes place months after events depicted in the first season of “Daredevil: Born Again.” Castle is living in Little Sicily, a violent New York City neighborhood experiencing a power vacuum following the elimination of the Gnucci crime family.
At the beginning of the story, Castle is in rough shape, mentally. He has completed his mission by taking out the Gnucci crime family. The debilitating grief over the loss of his family continues to haunt him. He is visited by hallucinations of those he lost. He is without purpose, and he is contemplating suicide.
Meanwhile, his neighborhood is beset by seemingly ceaseless brutality and crime. Initially, Castle pays no attention to the chaos around him. Then, he encounters Ma Gnucci (Judith Light), the surviving matriarch of the Gnucci crime family. She explains to him that she is seeking vengeance, too. She has put a bounty on his head, and at 6:47 p.m., she will make Castle’s exact location known to every criminal and hitman in Little Sicily.
As promised, a small army of delinquents and assassins show up at the predetermined time, infiltrating the crowded apartment complex where Castle lives and attacking other residents as they search for him. Their mercilessness triggers something in Castle, and he acts — not necessarily to save himself, but to keep others from harm. There’s the antihero we were promised. A bloodbath ensues.
One problem with “The Punisher: One Last Kill” is its brevity. It feels like — and, technically, it is — the middle chapter in a longer story. It is an abridgment that tries to tidily summarize Castle’s backstory. It is a bridge to whatever role the Punisher will play in subsequent MCU appearances, including this summer’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” It is both an epilogue and a prologue, potentially transitioning Castle into a less gritty, more emotionally vulnerable version of the character. Maybe.
For a production with a runtime of only 45 minutes before the credits roll, it takes an awfully long time to motivate Castle to take some kind of action. For a guy who is destined to fight an unending war against societal decay, Castle spends a lot of time brooding and ruminating and being completely oblivious to what’s happening around him.
The bloodbath could have been drawn out a bit longer. The sequence plays out like level 1 of a video game, but there is no low-level big bad at the end. Castle never confronts Ma Gnucci, which is unsatisfying. There is a knock-off John Wick aspect to all of this, including the death of a dog in an early scene.
Bernthal is unquestionably the right actor for this role. He conveys all the right emotions, makes the viewer understand — if not fully empathize with — his soldier’s mindset. There is much more for this character to do in the MCU. Castle is still in the middle of his arc, still transforming into something more than a detached vigilante. It will be interesting to see where Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, goes next with the Punisher.
For now, “The Punisher: One Last Kill” only serves as an entertaining but inadequate teaser.
Lee Clark Zumpe is entertainment editor at Tampa Bay Newspapers, a Tomatometer-Approved Critic, and an author of short fiction. He can be reached by email at lzumpe@TBNweekly.com.