Audiences were not ready for the amount of emotional damage Jon Bernthal inflicted in one week. He co-wrote and starred in two standalone pieces that came out this week: The Bear’s surprise prequel episode, Gary, and Marvel’s Special Presentation, The Punisher One Last Kill. Interestingly, both stories examine their characters' inner states, making them more relatable rather than giving fans an absolute adventure or heroic moments.

As surprising as it may sound, Jon Bernthal’s gritty and seedy role of Brad Bodnick in The Wolf of Wall Streetoftentimes goes unnoticed. Thanks to Academy Award-nominated performances from both Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort and Jonah Hillas Donnie Azhoff, Bernthal’s portrayal of the hardcore, no-nonsense drug-dealer typically gets swept under the rug. However, in the years since the film’s release, it has become crystal clear that Bernthal’s tough guy persona wasn’t just a front. The actor pulled no punches (literally) to make his scenes the highest quality they could be.

The last time we saw Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) was at the end of Season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again, where the anti-hero was locked in one of Wilson Fisk's (Vincent D'Onofrio) cages, but with the return of Season 2 this year, the Punisher was curiously missing from the lineup of heroes protecting New York. Now, after The Punisher: One Last Kill, we know where he's been the entire time. In a violent and action-packed hour of television, Marvel gives us an intimate look into where Frank has been since the cage. While the special covers a lot of ground, it also dives deep into Frank's psyche, something fans haven't witnessed since the end of the original Netflix Punisher series.

Few movie stars are as busy in 2026 as Jon Bernthal, who has already released his first project of the year with Gary. The surprising The Bear prequel episode co-stars Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and it was shadow-dropped on Hulu last week with no promotion — it has unsurprisingly taken over streaming charts since its debut. Bernthal is set to star in a pair of massive blockbusters this summer with The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, both of which co-star Tom Holland. All this already comes after Bernthal starred in one of the biggest Netflix shows of the year, His & Hers, which also featured Tessa Thompson. Fans were disappointed to not see Bernthal return as The Punisher in the second season of Daredevil: Born Again, but fortunately, his return as Frank Castle comes much sooner than you realize.