WE'RE SO BACK - Jon Bernthal's Punisher Will Officially Be In The Next 'Spider-Man'
The Hollywood Reporter- Jon Bernthal has appeared in several Marvel television series as the stone-cold vigilante known as The Punisher, even headlining his own series. Now he’s taking his guns to the big screen.
Bernthal has joined Tom Holland in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the latest Spider-Man movie from Sony and Marvel. Destin Daniel Cretton is directing the feature, which will shoot in England this summer and has a July 31, 2026 release date.
Much of the movie remains shrouded in mystery. Movie rumor websites have listed upwards of a dozen possible villains, from crime bosses to alien symbiotes, who could appear in the feature, as well as a couple of different versions of the Hulk.
I know the reaction to every Marvel project is basically either 'WE'RE SO BACK' or 'THE MCU IS DEAD' nowadays, and I try my best to be rational and explore the middle ground between those two extremes - but I gotta be honest, this just made me so excited/happy I can't help but say we're back. After a few years of turmoil and hit-or-miss projects, it feels like Marvel is getting back on the right track* and doing things that are genuinely exciting again - like putting Jon Bernthal's Punisher in a Spider-Man movie!
So much of 'Daredevil: Born Again' had people wondering where Spider-Man was, or if he'd get to interact with that cast and get looped into the Mayor Kingpin outlawing superheroes/vigilantes storyline - and it looks like we're getting our answer here! Hopefully Charlie Cox can return as Daredevil here as well and they figure out how to get Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk in the mix contractually, because that could make New York feel like such a tight connected corner of the MCU. Plus, who the hell wouldn't wanna see that?! I feel like Spider-Man/Daredevil/Punisher is maybe the coolest trio you could give us right now and Kingpin might just be the best villain they got at the moment!
Part of me wonders if Bernthal and Tom Holland pushed for this personally, because they helped each other prepare for their respective Marvel auditions back in the day and just wrapped up 'The Odyssey' with Nolan together....
It's an awesome full circle moment for them regardless! And by the way, if you enjoy superhero movies and shows and haven't seen 'Daredevil: Born Again' - you gotta change that ASAP. It's a perfect follow up to the Netflix series/launchpad for Daredevil in the full-fledged MCU, it's violent and gritty as hell, and Bernthal absolutely crushes it as Frank Castle. He's actually writing his own one-episode 'Special Presentation' right now that is slated for 2026, and I'd be surprised if he doesn't pop up in 'Born Again' Season 2 at some point to tease/set up his appearance here. Seems like nerds are gonna be eating good for the foreseeable future, though!
*I don't apply this to Ironheart, which was filmed before they got back on the right track - that might be meh, it might be great; I don't know!