These sure are exciting times for fans of the superhero genre, with James Gunn’s Superman rewriting iconic character traits and Marvel’s Fantastic Four: First Steps all set for its worldwide release this week. Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe haven’t had a lot to celebrate in recent times, but some much-needed good news has just been delivered by the president of the studio, Kevin Feige. He has just confirmed that Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is going to release in July 2026, is likely to feature another iconic comic-book character, and that is going to be Frank Castle, The Punisher.
While attending a roundtable discussion for the upcoming Fantastic Four, Feige shed some light on Marvel’s plans for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, and how is that movie going to fare considering that it is the last MCU movie to release before Avengers: Doomsday? When asked about whether the film is going to act as a proverbial bridge, which takes the audience to Doomsday, Feige made it clear that Peter Parker is all set to explore his story now, and considering how the last film ended, he has a lot of time to focus on just himself and become the hero he needs to be. He said, “I think there’s a promise at the end of No Way Home that, for as sad as it is, Peter is forgotten by everyone in his life.”
He added, “We are seeing for the first time in the Tom Holland Spider-Man stories him being a proper Spider-Man. He is, by himself, dedicated to saving the city and dealing with—for lack of a better term—street-level crime as opposed to world-ending events that he faced when working with the other characters.”
Kevin Feige does make a good point, because even though all of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man movies have been successful and well received, it can be argued the character has always had people to rely on. He is yet to go on that ‘Batman-like’ lonesome journey, where he can discover himself while caring about just his neighbourhood and his city.
Interestingly, the Punisher’s first-ever comic book appearance was in The Amazing Spider-Man issue #129. Apart from the several gritty storylines he has been a part of in the comics, the character was brought to life by actor Jon Bernthal back in 2016, when he featured in the second season of Daredevil. Since then, Bernthal has impressed audiences with his portrayal of the ‘obsessed with justice’ character and even played him in two stand-alone seasons.
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is all set to release on July 31, 2026.
