Let us tell you something, man! Jon Bernthal has officially proven that he's prepared to leave us with thoughtful performances regardless of where he goes. The man who thrilled us all with his performance as Shane Walsh on The Walking Dead back in the early 2010s has gone from strength-to-strength since the controversial character bowed out of the show, earning acclaim for his performances in the likes of We Own This City, The Wolf of Wall Street and, more recently, Netflix's His & Hers.
However, the role that has undoubtedly stood out among them all - yes, even more than his epic performance on The Walking Dead - is that of The Punisher in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We can officially call his version of Frank Castle an MCU character as his recent return to the role in Disney Plus series Daredevil: Born Again confirmed that his previous appearances in the 2010s were indeed canon to the franchise (he previously starred in Netflix shows Daredevil and The Punisher) and if that wasn't convincing enough, he's now set to star in Spider-Man: Brand New Day this summer.
Jon Bernthal's Punisher becomes the first Netflix character to play a major role in an MCU movie
The second trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day has been unveiled and it confirms what we all suspected: The Punisher is going to play a major role in the upcoming MCU movie. While the previous trailer certainly implied he and Spider-Man would know each other, this one goes much deeper than that - and it is an incredible sight for MCU fans who have enjoyed watching Bernthal's performance as Frank Castle since the Netflix days.
It turns that the film's mysterious threat will seemingly target Michelle "MJ" Jones (played by Zendaya) in an attempt to get to Spidey, who will then ask Frank for help keeping her safe. But the trailer also suggests that Frank will get involved in the action-packed side of the movie too, as MJ challenges him about helping Spider-Man. And with that, it's possible that we will see The Punisher team up with the webslinger against The Hand, the new villain (who may or may not be Jean Grey), and even the Hulk - who finds himself possessed by said villain.
This revelation is pretty darn revolutionary. Yes, it means that we'll be able to enjoy seeing Bernthal's Punisher in action again, but it actually goes much deeper than that. By having the character play such a significant role in an MCU movie, it will be the first time that any character from the street-level Marvel Netflix shows is heavily involved in any MCU movie - much less a more mainstream, family-friendly one like Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Of course, Charlie Cox is officially the first Marvel Neflix star to appear in an MCU movie, as he brought his portrayal of Daredevil's Matt Murdock to 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home but there are a few caveats to this statement. First of all, it was a cameo appearance as Matt served as Peter Parker's attorney, legally representing him in a single scene without ever donning the Daredevil suit. And secondly, this appearance was engineered to reintroduce Cox as a new version of Matt Murdock, divorcing itself from the Netflix show. However, when developing Daredevil: Born Again as a reboot, Marvel eventually scrapped that idea and decided to officially canonize the events of the Netflix show, remaking Born Again as a sequel series instead.
Although the Matt Murdock cameo was retroactively deemed to be the Netflix version of the character, it wasn't designed that way at the time. On the other hand, The Punisher's role was always designed to be canon and that makes his significant role in the upcoming Brand New Day that much more impactful than the Matt cameo - epic as it was. Marvel has officially accepted the events of the Netflix shows as being canon to the MCU and allowing a character as street-level and hard-hitting as they come to play such a pivotal role in a family-friendly Spider-Man movie is a huge step forward when it comes to blurring those worlds.
Jon Bernthal has been a fixture of the overall Marvel landscape for over a decade now, with his very first appearance as The Punisher celebrating its tenth anniversary just a few months ago. That debut came during the season 2 premiere of Netflix's Daredevil as Frank Castle became a regular part of the show's sophomore season. The success of Bernthal's performance led to spinoff The Punisher, which ran for two seasons before Netflix brought an end to the franchise due to Disney launching its own streaming service. That end came in 2019 and, although it seemed like it would be the end for the character, Bernthal's Punisher made his triumphant return in 2025's Daredevil: Born Again.
Although, like we said above, Marvel Studios originally had plans to bring back Charlie Cox, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Bernthal as completely new versions of Daredevil, the Kingpin, and The Punisher, they ultimately decided against it after setting it in motion. Cox had appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home and D'Onofrio appeared in the last two episodes of Disney Plus series Hawkeye. Bernthal didn't like the idea of resetting the character and turned a chance of a return down - that is until Marvel changed its mind. Hawkeye spinoff Echo is the show credited as rewriting the canon to include the events of the Netflix shows, opening the door for crossovers like the one we're about to see.
Bernthal won't be the only Daredevil: Born Again star to appear in the movie, however. Zabryna Guevara who plays Sheila Rivera in the revival series will return, having seemingly taken over as Mayor of New York City - after the Kingpin's removal from office in the Born Again season 2 finale. Although she wasn't a character in the original Daredevil series, the fact that Brand New Day is entirely embracing the continuity set forth by the street-level shows - all of which came about because of those Netflix shows - is such a huge indicator of how far we have come.
Ironically, The Hand are set to return in the upcoming movie, too. The deadly ninjas served as the overarching big bad of the Netflix Marvel shows, primarily appearing in Daredevil season 2, Iron Fist season 1, and finally, The Defenders, when they were seemingly defeated. If The Punisher does step up to help Spider-Man take them on, it will be the second time he has faced them as he assisted Daredevil in defeating them in the season 2 finale of the original show.
That would be a pretty epic sight and it once again shows how Marvel has used the Punisher to make history. A character who once took the fight to The Hand in dark corners of the Marvel Universe on a TV show that we weren't even sure was canon to the MCU now gets to do it on the biggest screen in one of the franchise's most high-profile movies of all. That in and of itself is a sign of how far we've come. And The Punisher is at the center of that history, hopefully bridging the gap between the smaller-scale street-level shows and the larger-than-life world of Spidey and his Amazing friends.
Speaking of street-level, Marvel just recently had Frank return to his darker roots for the critically-acclaimed Special Presentation The Punisher: One Last Kill, so to have him make the jump from that to Spider-Man: Brand New Day just shows you that there are no lines in the MCU anymore - they have all been blurred. And its the history-making use of The Punisher that has allowed that to happen.
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