Jon Bernthal's Punisher is returning to the screen twice in 2026 with a solo Disney+ special and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and he's offering some insight into how the two will connect. As with the rest of his Netflix cohorts, Bernthal spent years waiting to make his Marvel Cinematic Universe return after the streamer's Marvel deal ended.
He finally got his chance to do so with Daredevil: Born Again season 1, in which he was revealed to largely be in hiding until Charlie Cox's titular character discovers a band of police officers utilizing Punisher's iconography for their own corrupt methods. After taking down some of Wilson Fisk's Anti-Vigilante Task Force together, Punisher is captured and imprisoned, but breaks free, generally setting up his solo Disney+ special.
Just prior to filming kicking off on the special, it was announced that Bernthal's Punisher would be appearing in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Shooting the projects back-to-back from July through August, this gave the Marvel vigilante two major MCU stories in 2026, with Tom Holland's next film coming in July, while the Disney+ special is reported to be releasing around the same time as Daredevil: Born Again
One question that's been on audiences' minds since his casting in the film is how, narratively and tonally, Punisher's Disney+ special and Spider-Man: Brand New Day would connect. Now, in an interview with ScreenRant's Liam Crossan for the upcoming Netflix series His & Hers, Bernthal shared some insight on the connection, assuring that he, Holland and director Destin Daniel Cretton approached his role in the film in a way in which he could seamlessly walk between the sets:
Bernthal's Punisher certainly isn't the first character whose atypical tone has had to be adjusted for wider MCU appearances, nor even the first to do so in Holland's Spider-Man films. Cox's first return as Matt Murdock memorably came in No Way Home before he picked back up the mantle in Daredevil: Born Again, with his cameo being a short-but-brighter take on the character. Cox also found himself getting to showcase the lighter side of Matt's personality with his recurring role in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
With that in mind, it's certainly not impossible for Bernthal's role in Spider-Man: Brand New Day to be a seamless transition from how audiences are used to seeing him. Given the film will also see the returns of Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner and Michael Mando as Scorpion, as well as the introductions of Sadie Sink, Tramell Tillman and Marvin Jones III as the live-action Tombstone, Punisher could ultimately have a smaller role that doesn't require too much massaging to make the different tones work.
