Marvel Made A Huge Mistake With Jon Bernthal's Punisher In Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Contains spoilers for "Spider-Man: Brand New Day"
Look, no one expected the hardline Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) of the Netflix era to be in a summer tentpole film about your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man (Tom Holland). Still, there are levels to making things PG-13. While "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" is the best live-action Spidey movie in decades, it might just be the worst Punisher project in a long time — at least when it comes to being faithful to the character's comic book origins.
What we get here isn't the grim, ruthless Frank Castle who's dedicated his life to a humorless fight against evil after losing his family. Oh, the sadder and more brutal building blocks of his character do get stealthy references, but character-wise, this is a heavily diluted "oh, shucks" Punisher. The "Brand New Day" Punisher's tone is vaguely off-white rather than relentlessly pitch-black. He cracks jokes, indulges in comical arguments, and generally shares a very "Deadpool & Wolverine"-coded duo chemistry with Spidey. He gets far too giddy about wearing Spider-Man's mask to act as a decoy in a hospital sneak-out scene. He all but states out loud that he considers Spider-Man a friend. There's even a comedy bit about him crying when he chokes up near the end. It's a lot.
Don't take this all wrong, though. The "Brand New Day" version of the Punisher is an entertaining character, and Bernthal does a great job with what he's given. Still, you'd have a hard time recognizing him as previous iterations of Frank Castle.
The Punisher: One Last Kill may be the key to this comparatively mellow incarnation of Frank
In all fairness, the history of Jon Bernthal's MCU Punisher has always been a bit different from the relentlessly murderous crimefighter that is his most common depiction in the comics. This Frank Castle has occasionally seemed more akin to a traditional action hero than a relentless angel of death, and he's even been known to abandon his vigilante role after believing that he's avenged his family.
Perhaps more importantly, Bernthal's Frank is also a volatile figure who's prone to introspection and even hallucinations — two traits that are in play when "The Punisher: One Last Kill" sets him up for "Spider-Man: Brand New Day." The vigilante's Disney+ special is a story of personal growth that starts with Frank in a deep funk and ends with him realizing that his Punisher persona has worth. "Brand New Day" certainly shows that he's embraced crimefighting in broad daylight.
It seems that the events of "One Last Kill" cause Frank to mellow out enough to interact with Spider-Man and generally act like a big ol' goof who occasionally snipes people. It remains to be seen whether this will become the definitive MCU portrayal of the Punisher. If "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" does well, it might be difficult for the franchise to backpedal from this version of the character.
"Spider-Man: Brand New Day" is in a theater near you.