‘The Punisher: One Last Kill” Cast & Character Guide

The Punisher: One Last Kill Cast Overview

• The Punisher: One Last Kill is a one-hour Marvel Television Special arriving on Disney+ on May 12.
• Frank Castle, the Marvel anti-hero known as the Punisher, has been trying to leave revenge behind after Daredevil: Born Again, but a criminal empire, the Gnucci crime family, pulls him back into the streets.
• Jon Bernthal returns as Castle for the fifth time across nearly a decade of Marvel projects, with Jason R. Moore back as Curtis and Judith Light joining the cast as the iconic villain Ma Gnucchi.

There are times when an actor seems simply born to play a role. For Jon Bernthal, that role is Frank Castle, the vigilante anti-hero with a strong affinity for excessive violence from the Marvel Comics universe.

Bernthal’s breakout role was as Shane Walsh, the angry, perpetually-stomping-around minor bad guy from the first two seasons of AMC’s The Walking Dead. Shane proved that Bernthal had a talent for playing angry, brooding characters, and Netflix clearly took note, casting him as the even-angrier Frank in Season 2 of Daredevil, alongside other “born-to-play-this-role” actors such as Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock/Daredevil) and Vincent D’Onofrio (Wilson Fisk/Kingpin).

Now the official Frank Castle for a decade across four projects, Bernthal stepped into the writer’s room to bring his iconic character back to the small screen for The Punisher: One Last Kill. Bernthal himself co-wrote the hour-long Marvel Television Special, which airs on Disney+ on May 12. The result? One of the darkest and most psychologically complex versions of the character to date.

Wondering who will join Bernthal on The Punisher’s next sure-to-be-violent venture? Let’s take a look at the full cast and characters of The Punisher: One Last Kill.

Don’t forget: You can watch One Last Kill and other great Marvel content right on DIRECTV through Disney+! Sign up and start watching today.

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Cast of Netflix’s ‘The Punisher: One Last Kill’

Here’s the complete cast and characters of Netflix’s The Punisher: One Last Kill.

Jon Bernthal as The Punisher/Frank Castle

When we last saw Frank Castle, he was locked in a cage by the Kingpin’s brutal task force of crooked cops at the end of the first season of Daredevil: Born Again. He was conspicuously absent from the second season, including in scenes where the same room of cages was shown, and One Last Kill will provide some answers to what happened in the interim.

At the beginning of the special, Frank is trying really hard to stop being the Punisher. He’s locked away in an empty New York apartment, doing the slow private work of a man who’d like to be done seeking revenge. He’s also hearing voices and hallucinating.

When the Gnuccis, a rising criminal empire built around an old New York mafia name led by one of Frank’s archenemies in the comic books, do something Frank can’t ignore, the white skull and personal arsenal come back out. The question is, can he do things a bit differently this time around?

Obviously not. In fact, Bernthal described this version of the character as “the most psychologically complex, darkest version of the Punisher that you’re going to see.”

Bernthal first played the Punisher in Daredevil Season 2 in 2016, where he debut with a literal bang by blowing away a room full of Irish mobsters with high-powered weaponry, forcing Matt Murdock (the titular Daredevil) to defend him in court as they hashed out their vastly different approaches to vigilantism. The role was an instant fan favorite, and Bernthal was given a two-season spinoff, also on Netflix. He again reprised the role in Daredevil: Born Again when Disney resurrected the series and brought it into the Marvel Cinematic Universe fold in 2025.

Bernthal is set to continue playing the role in the upcoming Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, alongside Tom Holland.

Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle

Frank’s close friend Curtis is dead in this story, but the characters gets screentime regardless as the primary manifestation of Frank’s hallucinations. He is hearing his voice in empty rooms and seeing him at the edge of frame as he processes grief the only way he knows how.

On the Netflix run, Curtis was a Navy combat veteran who lost his leg in service and ran a support group for fellow vets working through reintegration, addiction and trauma. He was Frank’s closest living friend and one of the only people who could actually talk him down.

Judith Light as Ma Gnucci (Expected)

Isabella Carmela Magdalena “Ma” Gnucci is one of the most memorable adversaries in the Punisher’s comic book history. She’s the head of one of the New York’s top remaining Mafia families. Her long-running feud with Frank begins when he kills her three sons. If speculation is correct, One Last Kill marks the character’s first live-action appearance, brought to life by Judith Light. Light herself, in recent interviews, all but confirmed that she will be playing the Mafia matriarch.

Ma Gnucci was a bit cartoonishly brutal in the comics, but Bernthal reportedly decided to make her darker and even more brutal in One Last Kill, matching the vibe that he gave Frank.

Nick Koumalatsos as Nick

How do you get an actor to play the most authentic U.S. Marine possible? Hire a real life Marine, like Nick Koumalatsos.

Koumalatsos co-hosts a podcast with Bernthal and worked with him as a consultant on Daredevil: Born Again, helping shape how Frank Castle moves, fights and handles the weight of long-term trauma. Koumalatsos was one of the co-writers of One Last Kill with Bernthal, helped produce the special, and plays a member of Frank’s old Marine squad, Nick, on screen, his first major on-camera role.

Roe Rancell as Dennis

Roe Rancell plays Dennis, one of several supporting roles in the special whose specifics Marvel hasn’t disclosed.

Mila Jaymes as Charli

Mila Jaymes’ Charli is another character whose role Marvel has chosen not to spoil ahead of the premiere.

Watch ‘The Punisher: One Last Kill’ with Disney+ on DIRECTV

You can catch all the gory action on The Punisher: One Last Kill by connecting Disney+ to your DIRECTV account. Get started today!

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