As of February this year, Marvel reabsorbed the rights to all of Netflix’s Defenders characters, but so far we’ve yet to receive official confirmation that the studio plans to bring them back to the MCU. We’re pretty confident Charlie Cox is returning as Daredevil, probably even as soon as Spider-Man: No Way Home, but the future of the others is less assured. A new report, though, reveals that Spidey will encounter another Netflix hero besides DD at some point.
Giant Freakin Robot has shared that their intel indicates Marvel wants Jon Bernthal’s Punisher to face off against Tom Holland’s wall-crawler in the future of the MCU. Yes, the plan isn’t for the duo to team up but to come to blows. At this stage, it’s unclear where this could happen, so don’t expect Bernthal to cameo in No Way Home, but the outlet says that they believe Marvel is developing a way for the gun-toting vigilante to battle the friendly neighborhood hero.
Looking at their MCU portrayals, Peter Parker and Frank Castle couldn’t be more different and seem like unusual characters to pit against each other. However, there is some comic book logic to this concept as the Punisher debuted in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 as a foe for the web-slinger, before his popularity saw him evolve into an antihero. It would mean a lot to fans, then, to have this confrontation play out on screen.
Exactly on what screen it would take place, though, we don’t know. The most natural option feels like having Bernthal drop by a future Spidey film, but it’s feasible that Holland could cameo in a revival of The Punisher TV series, which has also been rumored. If they did restart his own show, strengthening the character’s connection to the wider MCU would be a smart move. And inserting a fan favorite like Spider-Man into the mix is guaranteed to draw more interest.
