Jon Bernthal's Punisher Special Is Officially The End Of An Era For Disney+

Jon Bernthal's The Punisher: One Last Kill is set to mark the end of an era for Marvel on Disney+. As one of the MCU's many upcoming Phase 6 projects, The Punisher: One Last Kill will mark Bernthal's full solo debut in the franchise under Marvel Studios. Before that, Bernthal had a supporting role as Frank Castle in Daredevil: Born Again season 1, just as he will in the story of Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Interestingly, The Punisher: One Last Kill marks the end of an era for Disney+ in more ways than one. When looking at the live-action Marvel TV shows of the next few years, only Vision Quest, Wonder Man season 2, and Daredevil: Born Again season 3 are confirmed. This is the fewest number of confirmed projects on the MCU TV slate since 2021, proving that, like with Star Wars, Disney is looking to pivot away from Disney+ content and back towards theatrical releases.

In this sense, The Punisher: One Last Kill marks the beginning of the end of the MCU's TV shows, at least in terms of what is confirmed, thus far. Another way in which it could be seen as the end of an era, though, is by being one of the last major MCU projects to have an R-rating. The franchise has leaned more into mature content in the last few years, be it via Deadpool & Wolverine or Daredevil: Born Again, of which The Punisher: One Last Kill is an indirect sequel.

However, Daredevil: Born Again season 2's ratings were not the strongest, especially in comparison to season 1 and some non-R-rated projects like Agatha All Along. With that in mind, The Punisher: One Last Kill could also mark the beginning of the end of R-rated MCU projects on Disney+, not just TV shows on the streaming service in general.

The MCU's R-Rated Content May Have Been Better Off Away From Disney+

For a while, Disney+'s R-rated content was primarily confined to Hulu or Star+ in some non-domestic territories. That said, Disney is currently in the process of merging Hulu and Disney+ into the latter app for a single streaming experience, leading to more mature content being available. This has coincided with the R-rated shows like Daredevil: Born Again and, indeed, The Punisher: One Last Kill.

As alluded to, though, the ratings of Daredevil: Born Again have only dwindled as the show has grown. This could be due to its R-rating, given that the show is not fit for the MCU's younger fans, just as the Netflix Defenders timeline from which Daredevil: Born Again stemmed wasn't before it. There should be a place for R-rated content in the MCU, but perhaps Disney+ is not the best home for it.

Even some of the dialogue in Daredevil: Born Again season 2 was criticized for feeling "forced" in regard to its use of curse words. This could be due to the typically family-friendly nature of Disney as a brand, which led R-rated aspects to stand out. This raises the question of whether Daredevil: Born Again and spin-offs like The Punisher: One Last Kill would have been better off under the Hulu umbrella.

The Future Of Marvel's R-Rated TV Content Is Unclear

Beyond The Punisher: One Last Kill, Marvel only has one R-rated project in development for Disney+. That project is Daredevil: Born Again season 3, set for release in 2027. If the viewership ratings of the show do not improve, however, it is unclear whether Disney will commit to more installments in that section of the MCU.

This coincides with the aforementioned murky nature of the MCU's TV shows in general. Evidently, though, projects that are suitable for younger viewers tend to draw in more viewers than those that are not. As a result, The Punisher: One Last Kill could suffer a similar fate, marking the end of an era for Disney+ MCU content.