By now, Spider-Man has fought flying scientists, multiversal menaces, and disgruntled ex-Stark Industries employees. But in his next adventure, Peter Parker is allegedly headed back to street level — and straight into the path of Jon Bernthal’s Punisher. Yes, Bernthal’s skull-sporting, bone-breaking antihero will appear alongside Tom Holland in the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Not a leak. Not a rumor. Not a blurry image of someone’s cousin’s TikTok screenshot. This is real.
While the plot remains locked up tighter than Kevin Feige’s hat vault, we do know that Brand New Day is shaping up to explore the grittier underbelly of the MCU — the kind of territory where you don’t just swing through the skyline, you walk down an alley and pray you don’t see a white skull on someone’s chest in the dark. Whether Frank Castle will be friend, foe, or frenemies with Peter remains to be seen, but let’s be honest: these two are probably going to beat the hell out of each other before shaking hands in front of a burning van.
Now, the big question: can Punisher still be Punisher in a PG-13 Spider-Man film? After Daredevil: Born Again, we’ve seen Bernthal go full Frank — brutal, bloody, and with enough F-bombs to level Hell’s Kitchen. But in a summer blockbuster built for broader audiences, we expect Marvel to keep the bullets flying but the blood mostly offscreen. Think: lots of implied murder, minimal gore, and a hard limit of one “shit” and zero decapitations. You know, Disney-friendly homicide.
Adding more fuel to the speculation fire, there’s word floating around that Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk might also appear — possibly as the chill, cardigan-wearing Smart Hulk or maybe as the more traditional smash-first-ask-never version. In the comics, Hulk famously remembers Peter Parker even after the world forgets him due to magical plot convenience. The problem? In the movies, Hulk and Peter have never actually met. So unless they bond over a shared love of shawarma offscreen, this comic book callback may remain just that — a callback nobody calls back.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be directed by Shang-Chi’s Destin Daniel Cretton and sees the return of Holland, Zendaya, and Jacob Batalon, with Stranger Things alum Sadie Sink joining in a mysterious role that’s guaranteed to launch 10,000 Reddit theories. The film is set to begin production soon and swings into theaters on July 31, 2026 — just in time for summer, back-alley brawls, and maybe a heartfelt moment between a kid from Queens and a man who solves problems with hollow points.
So, buckle up. The Punisher’s in town, and Peter Parker’s friendly neighborhood just got a lot less friendly.
