THE PUNISHER: ONE LAST KILL Director Talks About Jon Bernthal Actually Setting Himself on Fire for the Story

Marvel TV’s Special Presentation The Punisher: One Last Kill has arrived, and fans are pretty stoked about the official return of Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle aka The Punisher.

Bernthal and the creators were up front about the fact that this special was going to reintroduce one of the most badass vigilante anti-heroes in comic history in the most hardcore fashion fans could imagine.

That was proven in many ways, but one was the wild scene in which Bernthal performed a practical fire stunt on set, engulfing himself in flames.

The show’s director and co-writer, Reinaldo Marcus Green, chatted about the scene and his nervousness in letting Bernthal go through with it in a recent interview with ScreenRant, where he described the scene as a major turning point for Frank Castle emotionally and physically within the story. Green explained:

“It's all driven by story and that's a critical moment in the special where it's a turning point for Jon's character, but to have your number one on the call sheet put himself on fire, it's pretty special to say the least.”

When asked whether the flames were practical, Green laughed before confirming the sequence was completely 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, the sequence was always envisioned as one of the defining moments of One Last Kill, with the filmmakers building the scene around Frank Castle protecting innocent people and reconnecting with a larger sense of purpose.

“And so to put yourself through that type of risk because it's a character moment, I think that's a testament to how important the Punisher is to Jon, to the fans and why we wanted that moment to feel so real. Look, we had an incredible stunt team, an incredible stunt supervisor; there's too many folks to thank here, including our Marine Raiders.

“There's so many people that helped to orchestrate that moment and that started in the script. We always knew we wanted to do something special. We always knew it was about Frank fighting for the community.

“We always knew it was about Frank protecting people, and what was the best way for us into that point? So when it came to that and we saw the previs, it just felt like, okay, this is it. This is the moment. It's a critical moment.”

Green also credited the stunt team, Marine Raiders, and production crew for helping execute the sequence safely while maintaining the grounded realism the filmmakers wanted for the moment.

“It's one of my favorite sequences in the piece, but again, it's for the story point that it makes. It's the first time in our piece that our unreliable narrator is now real. That's real fire, and Jon is awake, and now the beast is unleashed, so to speak, in that moment.”

Bernthal’s Frank Castle is set to return this summer in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. I am excited to see what happens with his character after that. Do you think he will join the ensemble in Avengers: Doomsday?