Jon Bernthal’s Punisher To Appear In Next Spider-Man Movie | popgeeks.com

Sony, who will seemingly hold on to the Spider-Man movie rights forever, reached a handshake deal with Disney for the Tom Holland films to take place in the canon Marvel Cinematic Universe and allow for cross-pollination between the studios. Usually that has meant at least one “mentor” figure from the MCU shows up to shepherd young Spidey, whether it’s Iron Man or Doctor Strange.

But Spidey has grown quite a bit, and in this upcoming fourth film he’ll be a fully grown man — so instead of metal-clad billionaires or eccentrically dressed sorcerers he gets…The Punisher.

The interesting thing here isn’t just that Punisher is appearing but that this is the first MCU crossover from someone who hasn’t been in a movie before. Jon Bernthal was introduced as the character in the Netflix Daredevil series; then he reappeared in the relaunched “Born Again” show, and now he’s headed for the big screen in a role no one expected.

Punisher first appeared in Spider-Man comics as a villain, but he quickly switched to an antihero so he could get his own book. Driven by revenge for the death of his family (with a bit of post-Army PTSD thrown in), Frank Castle goes after bad guys with lethal intent, using heavy artillery to “punish” them until they die. He is obviously not a role model for civilized society.

Besides Bernthal, we also know Zendaya and Jacob Batalon are still part of the cast as Michelle Jones and Ned, though under what circumstances no one knows.  Sadie Sink is said to be in the film, but it hasn’t been revealed who she’s playing. They’re also boldly calling this flick “Brand New Day,” which is not a title that comic book fans with painful memories of that era will appreciate.

Spidey 4, now with a grizzled guy wearing a skull T-shirt, will be released July 31, 2026