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According to a report from Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter, Jon Bernthal will be reprising his role as Frank Castle, also known as The Punisher, in the highly-anticipated Marvel Studios film “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”
Previously, Bernthal has played Castle in various different live-action series like “Daredevil” and “The Punisher” on Netflix and “Daredevil: Born Again” on Disney+.
This will mark the first time that Bernthal has been featured in a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film. Meanwhile, Charlie Cox briefly appeared as Matt Murdock, AKA Daredevil, in “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
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The Punisher is a fan-favorite character, known for his gruff attitude and incredibly violent way of handling criminals.
Bernthal will be appearing alongside Tom Holland as the titular Spider-Man with Zendaya and Jacob Batalon returning as MJ and Ned as well. Additionally, “Stranger Things” star Sadie Sink will be joining the cast in an undisclosed role.
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is being directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, who previously directed “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” The film is set to release on July 31, 2026.
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While this is the first time The Punisher and Spider-Man have appeared together in the MCU, Bernthal and Holland actually have a Marvel history together.
During filming for “The Pilgrimmage,” Bernthal and Holland actually helped each other with their auditions for their now iconic Marvel characters.
“We did a film about seven or eight years ago,” Bernthal said during an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” “That was where both Tom did his audition for Spider-Man and I did my audition for Punisher. We actually made each other’s audition tapes [working] on that film.”
Bernthal went on to reveal that he was the one who actually suggested that Holland do the stunt in his audition that wound up getting him the part.
“I gave him the note, ‘Tom, maybe you should run up that wall and do a double backflip and then start the scene,'” Bernthal said. “And he was like, ‘Yeah, you think I should do that? That’s not too much?'”
“I was like, ‘I don’t think any of these other fools are able to do that,’ and he in fact did that. It’s not that I take responsibility for him, but you know, like a little something.”
In the end, Bernthal believes that Holland is the best actor to ever play Spider-Man. And now, Holland will be working with the best actor to ever play The Punisher.
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