The Punisher coming back for Spider-Man: Brand New Day breaks a nine-year-old MCU trend, and I couldn’t be happier about what this says about the film. News for Spider-Man: Brand New Day is starting to become more frequent, given that we are just over a year out from the film’s release. Perhaps the biggest piece of news yet, though, concerns the film’s cast. June 2025 saw confirmation that Jon Bernthal will appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, known for playing the antihero Frank Castle/The Punisher in the MCU.
Bernthal’s last appearance came in Daredevil: Born Again season 1’s ending, which left him in quite a precarious position after being caged by Wilson Fisk/Kingpin. However, the show teased Castle’s escape, setting up upcoming Marvel movies in Spider-Man: Brand New Day as well as a planned Marvel Studios Special Presentation centered around The Punisher. What makes these two projects so interesting is that Spider-Man: Brand New Day will break a trend that has existed in the MCU for nine years, while the other will not.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day Will Have A Less-Violent Punisher
Thanks To One Key Difference From The Character’s Past Appearances
Firstly, it is worth exploring how Spider-Man: Brand New Day will have a slightly different version of The Punisher. Of course, Bernthal’s return means his character will be the same one featured in Daredevil, The Punisher, and Daredevil: Born Again, but he will be less violent than usual appearances. The reason for this will be Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘s all but guaranteed PG-13 rating. An R-rated Spider-Man movie seems almost impossible to imagine, meaning Punisher will have to cater to an age rating less suited for overt, explicit violence.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day Marks A First For Jon Bernthal’s Punisher, 9 Years After His MCU Debut
The Punisher Has Only Gotten More Violent, Not Less So
With Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘s PG-13 rating in mind, this marks a first for Bernthal’s version of the character, nine years after he first appeared in the franchise. Bernthal’s MCU debut was in Daredevil season 2 in 2016, which had a TV-MA rating, the small-screen equivalent of an R-rating. This allowed The Punisher to be a highly violent character, with his appearances in The Punisher and Daredevil: Born Again only further increasing the character’s tendency for violent kills.
For the first time in nine years, Spider-Man: Brand New Day will break Bernthal’s MCU trend of getting increasingly violent with each appearance. The film’s PG-13 rating will force the character to go the opposite way and decrease in his overt displays of violence. Although this may put off some fans who enjoy The Punisher’s violence, I could not be happier about this change for one key reason.
Jon Bernthal’s Rules For The Punisher Only Make Spider-Man: Brand New Day More Exciting
The Story Was Enough To Overcome Bernthal’s Punisher Sacrifices
The reason why I am so happy that Bernthal’s Punisher will be less violent in Spider-Man: Brand New Day is how that speaks to the quality of the movie. Since his debut as the antihero, Bernthal has been openly very committed to portraying the character correctly. This explains why no project involving The Punisher has shied away from the character’s brutal ways from Marvel Comics, instead embracing them wholeheartedly. This was exemplified most recently with Daredevil: Born Again and that show’s creative overhaul midway through production.
Initially, Daredevil: Born Again was handled by a different creative team that strayed away from the previous Netflix Defenders timeline involving those characters. Bernthal revealed that he initially walked away as it did not align with how he viewed Frank Castle’s character. While Bernthal did not link this directly to Punisher’s depiction as a violent hero, his comments that the Special Presentation, written by him personally, imply as much. Bernthal stated that The Punisher’s Special Presentation will “…be dark; Frank has no interest in breaking out the darkness. It’s not going to be easy… It will not be Punisher-lite, I promise you that.“
Regarding how this all links back to Spider-Man: Brand New Day, this commitment from Bernthal seemingly clashes with a PG-13, more lighthearted Spidey story. Therefore, the fact that Bernthal has agreed to be part of the MCU story despite the undoubtedly lighter tone must mean the script is great and handles Frank Castle well. Castle will likely still have his dark tendencies, but Bernthal’s willingness to let the explicit depictions of these tendencies go for Spider-Man: Brand New Day indicates that a compelling story and great character arcs have been crafted.
