Jon Bernthal Joins New Spider-Man Movie but Will He Be Friend or Foe?

I firmly believe that the MCU will do a kind of reset after Avengers: Secret Wars is released in 2027. 2028 will mark its 20th anniversary (barf), and they can only hemorrhage money paying well-established actors for so long. They can go out with a bang of superheroes old and new, and then start things over with the X-Men or whatever. Their plans for after could easily change, but Secret Wars will likely be the end of the MCU as we know it. It feels inevitable, which can make it easy to forget that there will be other MCU movies before that. For instance, we’re getting a ninth live-action Spider-Man film.

Even though it seemed like he might be moving on, and the film rights to Spider-Man are messy as hell, Tom Holland will be returning to the MCU for his fourth solo film. Details are currently kept under wraps, but the film has been titled Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which shares a name with a comic book storyline that saw Spider-Man starting a new life after giving up his relationship with Mary Jane to Mephisto to save Aunt May (y’all sure you want Mephisto in one of these shows?). Holland’s last Spidey film, No Way Home, saw him erasing himself from the minds of everyone in the MCU (but still able to get an apartment in midtown Manhattan), so while Feige and crew may like to use titles loosely (and without accreditation), this one feels like more of a deliberate choice.

If the MCU has any idea of the potential storytelling gold they walked ass-backwards into by having Robert Downey Jr. take over the role of Doctor Doom, Spidey will be a big part of Secret Wars at least. It’s also fair to assume that Brand New Day will feature some build-up to the event films, as it releases just five months before Avengers: Doomsday. Peter Parker was one of the last people to see Tony Stark, his mentor, alive. Dealing with an evil version of him, who, potentially, is the only one who knows who he is, could be an interesting thread to see pulled. But that’s all assuming Spidey makes his way out of his new film unscathed.

Frank Castle, also known as The Punisher, was first introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man #129. The cover shows him aiming a rifle with our favorite web-slinger in his crosshairs. While the vigilante would eventually become an ally to the wall-crawler (depending on the year, story, etc.), he was first hired to take Spider-Man out. His appearance in the issue has made it a collector’s item and a seminal point in Marvel comics, as Punisher has gone on to be one of the company’s most popular characters (for better and for worse). Now, the characters will meet on the big screen for the first time.

Jon Bernthal will return to the MCU as Frank Castle in Brand New Day. We just saw the character return in Daredevil: Born Again, helping Matt Murdock battle s***head cops who see the murderous Punisher as an idol (which has become more and more timely, unfortunately). Since Castle calls NYC home, it makes sense that he and Spier-Man would cross paths, especially with Daredevil’s appearance in No Way Home. The question is, will the two heroes be on the same side?

We’ll likely find a Peter Parker who has more of an edge to him in the new film, since he has essentially lost his friends and family. There is a chance they will be reunited. Zendaya and Jacob Batalon will be returning as his friends, MJ and Ned. But that isn’t guaranteed. Instead, Spider-Man will be on his own, in a similar way to Castle. While it’s easy to assume they will be at odds, there is a lot they now have in common. We’ll have to wait and see how it shakes out, but Bernthal’s addition to the cast is one of the film’s most intriguing details to date.