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The Punisher won't change his mean, grumbly ways for Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Tom Holland assures that Jon Bernthal's Punisher will still feel like the Frank Castle we all know and love in Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Image credit: Marvel Studios

News by Jules Chin Greene, Staff Writer

Published on Tue Jun 02 2026

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The Punisher may have first debuted in an issue of the Amazing Spider-Man, but I don't think it's unfair to say that he's not exactly a kid-friendly character. Still, it isn't impossible for him to be portrayed in a way that keeps his character's core intact without racking up a high body count onscreen (as The Super Hero Squad Show proved many years ago). It just takes a fair amount of creativity to get his vibe across without scaring the little'uns.

Considering that Jon Bernthal is set to appear as the Punisher in Spider-Man: Brand New Day this summer, fans have been wondering whether a PG-13 version of the character will still feel authentic to the Frank Castle they've seen in Daredevil: Born Again and the Netflix Punisher show. And now, Spider-Man himself, Tom Holland, has cleared the air on the matter.

Holland assured, an interview with Empire, that the Punisher in Spider-Man: Brand New Day won't be radically different than the Frank Castle fans are used to seeing. "I know that there are concerns about taking a sort of R-rated character and putting him into one of these movies, but the way that we’ve designed the world around him feels very authentic to the Frank Castle we know... There are fun ways to get around the fact that he swears all the time and kills people," Holland said.

There are ways to express that Frank Castle is an extremely troubled person with a concerning laser focus on his mission: ridding New York of all criminals. The Super Hero Squad Show was able to pull it off for a target audience of 7-year-olds, so why can't Marvel Studios?

Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into theaters on July 31, 2026.

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Jules Chin Greene: Jules Chin Greene is a journalist and Jack Kirby enthusiast. He has written about comics, video games, movies, and television for sites such as Nerdist, AIPT, and Multiverse of Color.