Jon Bernthal Returning for Spider-Man: Brand New Day! Does It Raise or Lower My Excitement?
Yesterday was an exciting day for Spider-Man and Punisher fans. It was reported by The Hollywood Reporter that Jon Bernthal will be returning for Spider-Man: Brand New Day! What do I think about this? Am I excited for it? Let’s talk about it!
The Article:
My Thoughts
I have a few different thoughts about this but overall I view this as a win. There’s been a lot of rumors and speculation about this film for a while now. At one point it seemed like it was going to be another multiverse film with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. A few weeks ago there were rumors about Mark Ruffalo being in the film. It’s been a year of rumors and we didn’t know what the film was about.
BUT with Jon Bernthal set to appear in the film I feel like I better understand what this film is going to be. If my thoughts and hopes are what the film is going to be, then this is one of my most anticipated films of next year. For years now, fans have been wanting a more grounded and street level take with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. When Spider-Man: Homecoming came out they tried to differ themselves from the previous films, which makes sense. But with Far From Home and No Way Home they continued that and some of the magic and charm of Spider-Man was lost. Spider-Man is most famous for being a friendly neighborhood superhero and swinging around New York City. In Far From Home they took him to Europe. Then of course No Way Home went full on multiverse. They always feel the need to prop Holland’s Spider-Man up by a gimmick. Fans have been wanting a more grounded and street level Spider-Man story and it seems like Punisher being in the film could make this true. It’s exciting for him to be in the movie for that reason because it could tell a Spider-Man story with Holland that fans have been wanting. Beyond that, the deal between Marvel and Sony is a character swap. This was back when Spider-Man first joined the MCU and sounds like it’s continuing to now. Where Holland was allowed to appear in three MCU films: Civil War, Infinity War, and Endgame. In exchange, Marvel was allowed to put three of their characters into Spider-Man films, Iron Man, Nick Fury, and Doctor Strange. It sounds like for Brand New Day, Punisher is going to be that character.
The other thing you have to talk about here is the possibility of Charlie Cox’s Daredevil appearing in the film. If Bernthal’s Punisher is appearing in the film then I think it’s absolutely on the table for Cox to be in the film. In No Way Home, they established that Peter Parker knows Matt Murdock, Matt doesn’t remember Peter but Peter remembers Matt. With where Daredevil: Born Again left things with Kingpin creating this anti-vigilante task force, I’m curious if that means that’s going to tie into the plot of this film and Spider-Man is going to be on the vigilante that the task force is going to take out. We know that season two of Born Again is coming out early next year, before this film is scheduled to release. I’m wondering if they’re going to start connecting the Daredevil universe with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, if that’s the case then this could be something very cool. One thing that I have a question about is whether or not Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin will be in the film. Vincent did an interview a few months back with Josh Horowitz. He was asked if he’d like to appear in a Spider-Man film and he said due to rights and ownership his character can only appear in tv shows. I don’t know if that means only Kingpin is affected by this or Daredevil too. I’m curious if they got that figured out and what it would look like if possible.
My one concern and fear with this is are they going to dumb down Punisher for a PG-13 rating. So much of what makes Punisher and those shows great is that they’re rated-R and violent. They’re not shows designed for kids, they’re designed for adults due to the violence. Punisher is a character that works in R-ratings and not as well in PG-13. I don’t think Marvel or Sony are going to make R-rated Spider-Man films. Spider-Man films print money and given that Tom’s last two made over $1 billion, there’s a chance this one makes $1 billion. If it’s rated-R then a large percentage of the target audience aren’t able to see this film. I’m hoping they can still make Punisher a great character that gets to punish people but still keep it in a PG-13 rating. That’s my one concern in regards to this announcement.
Final Thoughts: I went off on some rabbit trails but overall I’m very excited for this. I love Jon Bernthal’s Punisher, I’ll be watching his show here whenever his special presentation comes out. Berntal’s Punisher has this cocky douchebag energy about him that’s so much fun and I think partnering him up with nerdy and awkward Peter Parker could provide for very funny moments. This report got me excited because he’s a great character and I have a better understanding for what this film is going to be. I hope in the coming months we get more casting and plot details about the film.
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