Jon Bernthal teases ‘high octane’ Punisher in Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Jon Bernthal has teased The Punisher will be as “high octane as you’ve ever seen” in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

The 49-year-old actor is set to reprise his role as the anti-hero in Tom Holland’s upcoming Sony/Marvel blockbuster, and Bernthal has promised The Punisher will not be toned down in Spider-Man: Brand New Day to ensure the character can transition smoothly between the movie and his upcoming Disney+ special.

Speaking with Screen Rant, Bernthal said: “Around that same time, there will also be this Punisher special that’s coming out that I think will be as sort of high-octane kind of Punisher as you’ve ever seen.

“And I think what was really important to me and to [director] Destin [Daniel Cretton] and to Tom is that we believed that the Punisher that could walk off of the Spider-Man set could walk on to the special set. I do believe that we achieved that.”

As well as Bernthal’s Punisher, Spider-Man: Brand New Day - due to release in July 2026 - will see the return of Holland’s Wall-Crawler, Zendaya’s Michelle 'MJ' Jones-Watson and Jacob Batalon’s Ned Leeds.

Meanwhile, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk, Michael Mando’s Scorpion and Marvin Jones III’s Tombstone are all set to have a role in the film.

Stranger Things star Sadie Sink and The Bear’s Liza Colon-Zayas are also confirmed to have roles in the movie, though both actresses have kept their lips sealed over the characters they will be playing.

However, Sink recently teased “there’s sometimes some truth” to the fan theories about who she will be portraying in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

During an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, the 23-year-old actress said: “It's torture. There's so much speculation. I feel like there's a new character every week.

“I tell people. The people I know. I found out through online theories.

“Before I got cast, there was speculation online that said, ‘Sadie Sink is gonna be in the new Spider-Man.’ I was like, ‘I am?’ Sure enough, two days later, they asked me to do it. “Those theories, there's sometimes some truth to [them].”

The synopsis for Spider-Man: Brand New Day reads: “After the world has forgotten his name, Peter Parker (Holland) begins a new chapter in his life — balancing college classes, part-time work, and his responsibility as New York’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

“But when a mysterious force begins to unravel the city from the inside out, Peter finds himself caught between powerful enemies, old legacies, and unexpected allies.

“As shadows from the past creep into his present, he must redefine what it truly means to be a hero — on his own.”

Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige also teased Spider-Man: Brand New Day will see Holland’s Peter Parker become a “proper Spider-Man” having to deal with “street-level crime” by himself instead of being thrown into “world-ending events”.