Back in April, Disney underwent significant layoffs, including putting a major dent in Marvel Studios’ visual development team. Fans and even actors who have been part of the MCU believe this is in an effort to replace artists with AI, with CEO Josh D’Amaro telling employees that the company needs to be “more agile and technologically-enabled to meet tomorrow’s needs.” So yeah, that certainly sounds like the corpo ramblings of someone who thinks AI is in the company’s future. But hey, it’s not too late to bring those folks back, which Disney might want to consider after one shot of the new Punisher special has got actor Jon Bernthal looking like a PS3 version of Joel from The Last of Us.
The Punisher: One Last Kill is a new special streaming on Disney+ that is setting up Frank Castle for his role in the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day movie that hits theaters on July 31. It’s a pretty brisk watch, clocking in at just 48 minutes. However, there’s one scene about 32 minutes in where the Punisher is shown fighting on a rooftop and falling onto a metal box that is catching people’s eyes and going viral for its rough CGI.
It’s a cropped and magnified scene pic.twitter.com/gC3ndJGpnP
— 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐑𝐨𝐰𝐞 (@Kenny_Rowe_) May 13, 2026
In one shot, Bernthal looks like himself, falling backward as he takes a guy out with a clean bullet to the head. The next, a very obvious 3D model of him is seen falling on top of the box as it breaks apart. It would look fine for a PlayStation 3 action game. As an interstitial piece of CGI glue on one of the top streaming services, it looks conspicuously out of place and cheap.
Also, Bernthal just doesn’t look like himself here? The model looks like Naughty Dog’s Joel Miller in a hoodie, and if there was a piece of rebar for him to fall on, I might mistake it for that gnarly scene in The Last of Us’ university segment.
The MCU’s CGI has been spotty over the years, especially within its TV pipeline, where it’s already been using generative AI in projects like Secret Invasion. Despite these productions being so reliant on animation to capture their otherworldly elements, the internal pipelines for its artists is notoriously brutal. To come out after all these layoffs with something this sloppy and noticeable doesn’t bode well for the future of the MCU’s visual effects.
Despite the online dunks on this particular moment, One Last Kill seems to be going over pretty well with both fans and critics, so this is an unfortunate blemish on an otherwise good special.
