Yes, Jon Bernthal Really Did Set Himself on Fire for Punisher: One Last Kill

Nobody will ever question Jon Bernthal’s dedication to playing Frank Castle in Punisher: One Last Kill. In interviews prior to the one-shot’s release, Bernthal made it clear he’d have walked away if he didn’t believe in Marvel’s interpretation. Now, he’s going on a tour de force celebrating the Special Presentation (which has a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 84% against an audience score of 92%).

Speaking to ScreenRant, Bernthal and his co-writer Reinaldo Marcus Green discussed a practical fire stunt where one of the thugs targetting the Punisher manages to set him ablaze. Green confirmed the scene was entirely real:

“Legit flames, legit practical flames, and everyone was trying to walk him off the ledge, myself included. I’m like, “You sure you want to do this? But if you want to go back, we’re going to go back for you to do this.” But it’s not for the faint of heart to put yourself through that kind of experience, but to watch Jon, the preparation for doing that, but he didn’t do it to look cool. I think that’s what makes Jon so special. He did it because it was important to the story, it was important to the character.”

According to Green, this is one of his favorite moments in the show. “It’s the first time in our piece that our unreliable narrator is now real,” he explained. “That’s real fire, and Jon is awake, and now the beast is unleashed, so to speak, in that moment.”

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Jon Bernthal Has a Strong Vision for the Punisher

By the end of Punisher: One Last Kill, Frank Castle has finally chosen a path. There’s a symbolic moment where he can choose to pursue revenge against Ma Gnucci by going after her, or he can become a hero by saving others from riots blazing through Little Sicily. He chooses the latter, and that’s the whole point of the Special Presentation. “We always knew it was about Frank fighting for the community,” Green said. “We always knew it was about Frank protecting people, and what was the best way for us into that point?”

Bernthal himself was understandably wary of exploring Punisher’s future in Spider-Man: Brand New Day and beyond, but he stressed that this is a more direct version of Punisher. “I think you’re going to get a version of him going after the bad guys, going after the people that are causing harm and havoc to good people. I think he’s going to be able to start personalizing that. And with Frank, when he personalizes something, it’s something to deal with.” Given the Punisher will be an unlikely guardian angel for Sadie Sink’s mysterious Brand New Day character, that comment is deeply intriguing.

One thing seems certain; the future is bright for the Punisher. Marvel’s Spider-Man films tend to feature prominent MCU characters, ones the studio hope will become particularly important as the shared universe continues. The Punisher is the most exciting co-star in Brand New Day, which surely means it’s only a matter of time before One Last Kill turns into a backdoor pilot. It surely won’t be long before a dedicated Punisher series is greenlit again.

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