Where The Punisher: One Last Kill Takes Place On The MCU Timeline

By Jeremy Mathai
Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle covered in sweat and looking off to the side in an empty room in The Punisher: One Last Kill Marvel Studios

Warning: This article contains spoilers for "The Punisher: One Last Kill."

You didn't think 2026 only had a new "Spider-Man" movie and an "Avengers" event film in the offing, did you? Marvel fans have been kept busy on the television side of things, too, especially following the recent conclusion of "Daredevil: Born Again" Season 2. But just as the saga of Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock (and longtime foe Wilson Fisk, played by Vincent D'Onofrio) has closed one chapter, one of Daredevil's most combustible frenemies is opening another. The release of "The Punisher: One Last Kill" hopes to take the next step, after the various Netflix shows and the Disney+ revival series helped etch Jon Bernthal's performance as the gun-toting vigilante into the annals of Marvel history.

But now that the Punisher is fully and unmistakably part of the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe, further underlined by his upcoming appearance in "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," this raises a whole new set of questions. With Mayor Fisk wreaking havoc on New York City in one story and Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom threatening to do the same to the multiverse at large in another, where the heck does the piece known as Frank Castle fit into this overwhelmingly sprawling jigsaw puzzle? The very careful release schedule of "Daredevil: Born Again" Season 2 and this special certainly provides a lot of clues, but it doesn't quite tell the whole story.

For those wondering how to map out the Punisher's existence within the MCU — the Netflix shows included — this is the article for you.

The Punisher: One Last Kill is set after Daredevil: Born Again, but with a twist

Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle shoving Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock against a wall with a weapon raised in his other hand in Daredevil: Born Again Giovanni Rufino/Marvel Studios

Just in case anyone's hoping to find out about Frank Castle's thoughts on the Mad Titan Thanos snapping away half the universe's population for five whole years, perhaps lower your expectations now regarding "The Punisher: One Last Kill." But, while that must remain a mystery for now, we can at least clear up how this new special slots into the MCU timeline fairly easily ... though it's not quite as straightforward as you probably assume.

It's safe to say that "One Last Kill" takes place well after the events of both Netflix shows: "Daredevil" and "The Punisher" alike. The special directly references the circumstances behind the murders of Frank's family, which we saw in all its gory detail in "The Punisher." Meanwhile, Frank's hallucination of Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) and the intimacy of their (imagined) dynamic confirms that this takes place after "Daredevil" and "Born Again," which established their close emotional rapport despite the two having very different feelings about what he does in his free time.

But when exactly is "One Last Kill" set compared to "Born Again" Season 2? That's where it gets a little tricky. There's no mention of Wilson Fisk, his Anti-Vigilante Task Force, or whether he's even still Mayor of New York City or not. Based on this Variety interview, however, "Born Again" showrunner Dario Scardapane suggests there's a bit of an overlap between the two:

"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. I think this tells the story of what happened next after 'Punisher' and before and during the events of ['Born Again'] Season 2."

The Punisher: One Last Kill leads into Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle behind the wheel of his van in Spider-Man: Brand New Day Sony Pictures/Marvel Studios

Obviously, this then raises the question of how "The Punisher: One Last Kill" tees up Frank's next adventure in "Spider-Man: Brand New Day." Now, as a result of Thanos' aforementioned meddling, the timeline of the MCU is slightly ahead of our own — mainly due to that big five-year time jump unfolding after the Blip and set between the end of "Avengers: Infinity War" and the early portions of "Avengers: Endgame." Fortunately, there's enough context clues and canonical signposts for us to figure out exactly where (and when) we are at any given time.

Thanks to a recent social media post by Total Film, fans can visualize where "One Last Kill" falls among the various Netflix shows, the "Born Again" revival series, and the "Spider-Man" movies. The early Netflix shows (including "Daredevil" and "The Punisher" spin-off) are nestled comfortably in the mid-to-late 2010s. The largest time jump occurs between "The Punisher" Season 2 (set in 2017) and Frank's next reappearance in "Daredevil: Born Again" (set in 2026) — a whopping nine-year gap. (Again, we're dying to know whether Frank was snapped away into oblivion for five of those years or not.) With "One Last Kill" taking place at roughly the same time as "Born Again" Season 2, we also know that "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" is set nine months after "No Way Home" ... and that there's also a bigger four-year time jump that occurs later in the story. What's unclear, however, is whether the Punisher sequence we glimpse in the trailer takes place before or after that larger time jump.

We'll find out for sure when "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" arrives in theaters on July 31, 2026.

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