Spider-Man Already Knowing the Punisher in ‘Brand New Day’ Fixes the Defender’s Saga Being Kept Separate

by

The official trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day is here, and it gives us a lot of hints about what the movie will be about. While fans are analyzing every little detail, one thing is particularly exciting: even though this starts a new Spider-Man series of films, it remembers it’s still connected to the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. The trailer features several returning actors, and one of them specifically addresses a long-standing issue from eleven years ago that Marvel couldn’t avoid at the time.

Netflix started its own corner of the Marvel universe in April 2015 with the first season of Daredevil. At the time, it was unclear if the Daredevil series and other Netflix Marvel shows were officially part of the main Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), or existed in a separate, but similar, reality. However, with Daredevil: Born Again set to continue the storylines from those earlier shows instead of starting over, the Netflix series are now officially recognized as part of the MCU’s main timeline. These shows were often better than people realized, so it’s fantastic they remain important to the overall story. The recent trailer for ‘Brand New Day,’ featuring a major star from the Netflix shows, now feels like a clever way to connect that earlier period to the current MCU.

Jon Bernthal’s Punisher Already Knows Spider-Man in ‘Brand New Day’


Netflix

It wasn’t a surprise to see Frank Castle, also known as The Punisher, in the new trailer, as his appearance had been announced previously. However, I was a bit surprised to see that Frank and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man already know each other and have a well-established relationship. Given that this version of the Punisher has a less known backstory compared to Spider-Man, who’s been a major part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for years, I expected the trailer to show their first meeting. This would have made the story more accessible for viewers who didn’t watch the previous Punisher series on Netflix.

You know, I’ve been thinking about this new direction with Brand New Day, and honestly, it totally makes sense. It feels like a bold move, sure, but when you consider everything that’s happened in the Marvel universe, it just clicks. Both Spider-Man and the Punisher are New York City vigilantes, and while the MCU loves throwing Spidey into these huge, universe-saving team-ups with practically gods, let’s not forget he’s famous for fighting street-level crime – just like Frank Castle. So, it’s a no-brainer they’d run into each other all the time! Even if Peter hadn’t met Frank before No Way Home – and it seems like they haven’t – the three years that have passed in-universe since that movie give them plenty of opportunities to meet, and then keep crossing paths after that initial encounter.

Why the Netflix Marvel Shows Often Felt Separate from the MCU


Netflix

Netflix teamed up with Marvel Television to create a series of shows—known as the Defenders Saga—featuring characters they had the rights to. These shows included Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, The Punisher, and The Defenders. Like the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), characters often appeared in multiple shows within the Netflix series. However, the shows never explicitly confirmed they took place in the same universe as major MCU films like 2012’s The Avengers. While the Battle of New York was mentioned, it could have been a different version of the event. A simple cameo from someone like Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man—or another actor—could have easily established a connection, but it never happened.

Because Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel Cinematic Universe production, wasn’t connected to the shows like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and the others, many fans wondered if those series officially fit into the larger Marvel movie universe.

Originally, Marvel intentionally kept the shows featuring Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and the others separate from the main Marvel Cinematic Universe, while still leaving the possibility open for them to become officially part of it later. Now that those shows are considered canon, it doesn’t explain why characters like the Avengers, who usually operate in New York, were never directly acknowledged. They were alluded to, but never named. There was a clear divide between the Netflix series and the rest of the MCU. That separation is now gone, and it makes perfect sense that the Punisher and Spider-Man are established as having a shared history as New York vigilantes moving forward. It’s just a shame it took Marvel a decade to realize this connection.

Early Attempts To Bring Back Netflix’s Marvel Characters Weren’t Very Effective


Disney+

Even though it wasn’t always clear if characters like Charlie Cox’s Daredevil officially belonged in the main Marvel Cinematic Universe, the MCU tried to bring some of them over anyway. A prime example was Cox returning as Daredevil in the 2022 Disney+ series She-Hulk. However, this version of the character felt different – the show’s lighter tone made him more playful, and a new suit made him seem like an alternate version of the Daredevil from the Netflix series. It felt like a hesitant attempt to incorporate the best parts of the Defenders Saga without fully acknowledging its contributions.

Other attempts to bring back fan-favorite characters, like Cox’s appearance in No Way Home and D’Onofrio’s return as Wilson Fisk in Hawkeye, didn’t quite land with audiences. Instead of feeling like established parts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, these characters often felt like new additions. While Bernthal’s Punisher did appear in Born Again Season 2, that felt like a natural continuation of his previous story and didn’t feel like a major MCU moment. Fortunately, this hesitant approach seems to be over. Even though the connection between Spider-Man and the Punisher might seem minor in the Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer, it’s actually a welcome and long-awaited development in the writing.

Read More

2026-03-18 17:06