Tom Holland’s Peter Parker teaming up with other superheroes has become a trademark of the MCU’s Spider-Man movies, but Spider-Man: Brand New Day is kicking things up several notches on that front. Multiple protagonists from various corners of this superhero franchise are expected to appear in the upcoming Marvel movie. Jon Bernthal’s Punisher was the first announced to be coming back, and fans hyped for the character’s return will be pleased about this rumor claiming who we’ll see him fight.
Per scooper DanielRPK (via Heroic Hollywood), Bernthal’s version of Frank Castle will allegedly come into “direct conflict” with the crime lord Tombstone. It was reported last month that Black Lightning alum Marvin Jones III will play the live-action version of Lonnie Lincoln after having previously voiced him in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Considering The Punisher’s M.O., it should come as no surprise that Tombstone would be one of his targets.
Assuming this information is accurate, this likely means that Tombstone will not be Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s main antagonist. Rather, he’ll instead be a supporting antagonist, be it as an ally for Michael Mando’s Mac Gargan, a.k.a. Scorpion, or causing his own trouble on the side. Whatever the case, Punisher will set his sights on him, and since this is a Spider-Man movie first and Peter Parker will surely swing in to help out whether Frank wants him there or not.
While Brand New Day marks Tombstone’s first live-action appearance, an alternate MCU timeline version of the character was seen earlier this year in the animated series Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. That Lonnie, however, is much younger than the one we’ll see on the big screen. Of course, Jon Bernthal’s been playing The Punisher for nearly a decade now, stretching back to Daredevil Season 2 and his own spinoff series. Bernthal returned to the role earlier this year for Daredevil: Born Again’s first season, and his appearances in Season 2 and the Punisher TV special will precede Brand New Day.
As for those other superheroes mentioned earlier for the upcoming Spider-Man movie, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk was the next to be unveiled, although Ruffalo was staying cagey about his involvement as of a month ago. Then Florence Pugh was rumored to be reprising Yelena Belova, and now there’s speculation that Charlie Cox will reprise Matt Murdock following his appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home, though this time he’d also be suited up as Daredevil as well. Additionally, although Vincent D’Onofrio isn’t expect to reprise Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. Kingpin, allegedly his anti-vigilante stance as New York City’s mayor will factor into the story.
Considering that Jon Bernthal’s Punisher has so far only been featured in R-rated/adjacent MCU projects, I’m curious to see how he’ll do within the PG-13 confines of Spider-Man: Brand New Day when it comes out on July 31, 2026. More specifically, will Tombstone make it out of this movie alive or with a fatal bullet wound?
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