There’s almost never an easy way to introduce a Marvel character to the big screen. I know that the 2025 movie schedule just may prove us wrong, if it hasn’t already, but I think the biggest WTF is about to be dropped onto the MCU table. That’s because it’s just been announced that another Marvel TV character is about to debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 2026 slate, thanks to Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
And considering who they brought in for No Way Home, this seems like a pretty dead giveaway. That’s right, kids… it’s Frank “The Punisher” Castle! Jon Bernthal is now set to make his MCU debut on the big screen, as THR broke the news that he’s now in director Destin Daniel Cretton’s upcoming Marvel movie. That’s surely enough to distract us all from trying to guess Sadie Sink’s mysterious Brand New Day role, or what this means about Vincent D’Onofrio’s “off limits” comments when talking about a Kingpin intro, right?
It’s kind of wild that we’re now seeing our second street level defender jumping in through the Spider-Man movies. As I previously alluded, Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home before he made his huge resurgence in Daredevil: Born Again. And when it comes to Peter Parker (Tom Holland), having him potentially pick up The Punisher’s anti-hero as a mentor makes sense, both in the comics and in the wake of No Way Home’s ending.
We’re about to see Peter enter a new era of his life, where he’ll potentially be balancing a job at the Daily Bugle and classes with Dr. Otto Octavius. Hence the Brand New Day subtitle, which also cleverly works in a reference to the comic arc that saw Peter Parker embark on a massive redo after the “One Day More” arc.
I’ll leave all of the details to the comic inclined, but with Peter Parker not having MJ or Ned by his side, he’s going to need some new side characters to help him through. While I wouldn’t have automatically chosen Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle for the job in a PG-13 movie, I’m now deeply curious to see how this ends up working.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is set to hit theaters on July 26, 2026! And if you want to see what Frank Castle has been up to as of late, then you can stream the first season of Daredevil: Born Again, currently available on Disney+. Maybe there’s a clue to this upcoming team up that we’ve missed, hiding in plain sight.