We’re in a very weird place when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe on the 2026 movie schedule, as the upcoming Marvel movie, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, a film that would otherwise be a big deal, feels likes its being completely overshadowed by Avengers: Doomsday. Granted, the former film won’t have the incredible cast of heroes of the latter, but it also isn’t going to be without its special appearances as we know Jon Bernthal’s Punisher will be part of the film.
Considering that The Punisher has been one of Marvel‘s more violent characters since his debut (lending himself well for an R-rated adaptation) fans have wondered how he would work in what is almost assuredly a PG-13 Spider-Man movie. Talking to ScreenRant, Jon Bernthal indicated fans shouldn’t be disappointed, as it was “really important” to all involved that they still make The Punisher in Brand New Day feel like the same character. He said…
Around the same time there will also be this Punisher special that's coming out that I think will be as sort of high octane kind of Punisher as you've ever seen. And I think what was really important to me and to Destin and to Tom is that we believed that the Punisher that could walk off of the Spider-Man set could walk on to the special set. I do believe that we achieved that.
Bernthal’s comments essentially confirm that the upcoming Punisher special, which will be available with a Disney+ subscription, will be exactly what we’ve come to expect from the character. The Punisher’s return to the MCU in Daredevil: Born Again was just what fans wanted to see. If there was anything wrong with it, it was only that we didn’t see enough of it.
The question was how that would square with the more general audience-friendly Spider-Man movie. Clearly, the character would need to be toned down, right? Fans were voicing this concern as soon as Bernthal’s appearance in the film was rumored. It’s clear from Jon Bernthal’s comments that they were very aware of this concern on the set of Brand New Day, as they had the same concern themselves.
To be fair, the Punisher in Spider-Man: Brand New Day almost certainly will be a bit more family-friendly as far as the level of violence we see. However, that doesn’t mean the character has to feel like he’s been toned down. If the action is handled properly, it can still have the visceral feel that fans know, and it can be done in a way that anything that needed to be changed to achieve a PG-13 rating won’t be missed.
Matching tone between franchises has been a dance the MCU has had to do for a while, and while it perhaps hasn’t been perfect, it has generally worked. If we can see Daredevil at his dark and gritty best in Daredevil: Born Again and see him doing the walk of shame in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, I expect we can see Punisher and Spider-Man together.
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