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With official confirmation that the upcoming MCU film Spider-Man: Brand New Day will feature Jon Bernthal’s rendition of Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, fans are already speculating how the two vigilantes will interact. Though they’re polar opposites in methods and morals, their shared history—as the Punisher initially debuted as a villain in an issue of Amazing Spider-Man—and status as street-level characters is rich in narrative potential.
The two were initially enemies and since then, their relationship has gotten a bit better, though they’re far from besties. It’s sure to be a compelling clash when they meet in the MCU, as Punisher’s lethal pragmatism and no-nonsense style could serve as a brutal wake-up call to this iteration of Spider-Man, who is in a much more vulnerable state after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
10 Stay Close To The Ground
Spider-Man doesn’t need to fight in space when there are threats at home
Spider-Man in the MCU started as very street-level with Homecoming, something fans saw as very in line with what the friendly neighborhood hero should be. But as he continually made more appearances in the MCU, both in his own solo films like Far From Home and No Way Home and in larger team-up films like Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame duology, the scope of his stories grew, eventually getting entangled in the multiverse.
An encounter with Punisher could remind Spider-Man to keep his priorities to the street level, to the people around him, and the crime right outside his door. It’s not exactly like he has Tony Stark technology or an Avengers membership these days. Let the Avengers handle the multiversal dilemmas, and Spider-Man can remain grounded to handle organized crime or more local supervillains.
9 Tone It Down A Notch Or Two
For someone as animated as Spider-Man, Punisher’s stoicism is a strong contrast
The Punisher is a character that ultimately operates very simply. He makes a plan, gets his equipment, and usually charges in toward his target to eliminate all he sees as an enemy. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but hey, the character has been sticking with it for a while so the strategy ought to be doing something right. Ultimately, there’s very little that is flashy about the Punisher. He’s an anti-hero with guns and a t-shirt, maybe battle armor, most of the time.
This isn’t the implication that Spider-Man ought to give up the classic red and blue spandex (though he does look pretty good in black), but that the hero could afford to dial back his bombastic nature. Spider-Man is known for quipping and theatrics, and a valuable lesson from Punisher could be to just focus on the essentials of any given task without having to drag it out into a spectacle, especially as dragging things out can lead to people getting hurt or villains getting away.
8 Feel Free To Have A Bad Rep
No Marvel character’s reputation is worse than Frank Castle’s
Spider-Man is a very capable hero, yes, but he’s also a lighthearted one. His costume is a vivid red and blue, his main powers are all themed around that of a spider, and he tends to swing onto a scene with a myriad of quips on hand. People take Spider-Man seriously enough, but not as seriously as they ought to, and that’s where Punisher could come in.
Frank Castle is feared by all who know of him, be they criminal kingpins, supervillains, or minor thugs. The Punisher skull is no joke, purely because Frank has a lethal reputation that precedes him. Spider-Man could use the same, spreading an energy of intimidation that will require his enemies to take him seriously or stay away from him altogether. Considering he’s not in the best place after No Way Home, he could be more prone to enforcing this aura, for better or worse.
7 You Can’t Always Be Positive
Maybe not every supervillain can just be fixed with a smile and nudge
Spider-Man is a hero who often wants the best for some of his less evil enemies. He doesn’t want them dead—barring some obvious exceptions like Norman Osborn—and tries to nudge them towards a better path because he knows they have potential outside of supervillains. It’s a generally positive approach that most non-homicidal heroes share, though obviously, Punisher is not a part of this group.
A rather sad lesson Spider-Man could learn from Punisher is that some people don’t want to be saved. Is this true? Occasionally, especially in the more black-and-white realm of superhero comics, but part of what makes a hero into a hero is their tenacity to save as many as possible, whether it is more of a physical or mental sort of saving. Punisher could have a negative influence on Peter, pushing him towards a more cynical mindset regarding his foes.
6 Take Help Where You Can, Even If It’s Sketchy
Frank Castle isn’t afraid to get in bed with the wrong people for the right cause
Punisher and Spider-Man have a history as enemies, with the former hired by Miles Warren, the Jackal, to kill the latter. Even though they figured things out, the two still have a rather strenuous relationship, what with their differing approaches to killing people. This doesn’t mean that they haven’t teamed up or had each others’ backs before—though it was rather begrudgingly.
Frank Castle is the type to team up with people if they serve his mission because team-ups don’t necessarily mean friendships. Punisher has learned that doesn’t need to like someone to work with them and sometimes, after an alliance is through, he will discard or kill the other party, like the time he infiltrated the mob. Peter, who values personal bonds, might learn that uncomfortable alliances can still save lives.
5 Superheroes And The Police Aren’t That Compatible
Not all superheroes shake hands with the boys in blue
The very nature of the Punisher character exists without any larger oversight. He’s a vigilante with an axe to grind with an unwillingness to listen to anyone who gets in his way, whether that be crooks, fellow heroes, or even law enforcement. Frank Castle is a force of nature with a disdain for authority, actually going out of his way to brutalize cops for using his image in projects like the recent Daredevil: Born Again show.
Overall, Frank’s mentality could be passed on to Peter as a lesson to forgo authority. Public perception is one thing, as many heroes operate without the approval of the general population’s ever-changing opinions. But authority from law enforcement or other heroes is another matter entirely, Peter, in particular, having solid dynamics with the former in regards to characters like George Stacy or Jean DeWolf. Going forward in the MCU, Peter could disregard them entirely or even attack their corruption.
4 Operate Without Fear Of Public Disapproval
If there’s anyone who knows what it’s like to be disagreed with, it’s Punisher
Spider-Man being known as a menace is something integral to the character. It’s always been a comedic paradox that despite all the good he attempts to do for the city, he gets dragged through the mud for it regardless because the city’s biggest paper has it out for him. The approval of the public is something that has resulted in a legitimate chip on the wall crawler’s shoulder over the years and it was pushed to maximum levels after the end-credits of Far From Home with his identity being outed, only to be walked back to a very drastic extent during No Way Home with the world forgetting that Peter was Spider-Man.
The Punisher is a character who operates without caring what others think of him. He knows what he’s doing is wrong and that it won’t score him any friends, but he doesn’t care. It’s something Spider-Man could learn, that he can operate as a hero without caring what the public thinks—for the better or worse.
3 Make The Mask Your True Face
When it comes to Punisher, there’s hardly a double life
A key part of Spider-Man, in a sense, is his anonymity. It’s partly so anyone can see themselves under the mask, but originally, it came off as a way to make the wallcrawler unsettling to both people in-universe and readers. He was a creepy crawly of sorts, Peter hiding behind this new alter ego to save the day. It’s a smart tactic, especially for someone concerned about the safety of the loved ones in his life.
But with the Punisher, Frank doesn’t wear a mask to hide, he wears his skull proudly with there being no clear line between his real name and his alter ego. To the world and himself, they are the same. With Spider-Man, Peter’s double life generally confuses his sense of identity, but considering the aftermath of No Way Home, there isn’t much of a double life for Peter right now. Encountering Punisher may push Peter to fully embrace being Spider-Man, with no room for Peter Parker.
2 Keep Your Enemies Down
Repeating antagonists has been a plight for Spider-Man
The Punisher is notorious for many things, but most of all, his homicidal streak. The character eventually became the definitive anti-hero in comics after he began his existence as a villain, known to be a vigilante existing in dark, dark shades of grey. While some takes have softened the character’s rough spots, he’s still a killer, willing to put down anyone he considers to be a criminal, the enemy, stuck in a perpetual one-man war on crime.
When it comes to the character’s potential interactions with Spider-Man in the MCU, there’s room for things to take a darker turn. Peter Parker is in a notably worse place than usual after he lost his friends, family, and life. This emotionally vulnerable time could leave him open to taking morally questionable suggestions from the Punisher, like the idea of killing his enemies outright. He came close in No Way Home with the Green Goblin, and at Frank’s insistence, Peter could very well internalize the wrong lessons about making sure his enemies stay out of the game—permanently.
1 The Biggest Lesson Of All: Don’t Be Like Frank
Ultimately, there’s a reason most heroes hate The Punisher
There are some worthwhile things that Spider-Man could learn from the Punisher, truly practical lessons befitting a street-level hero. There are also some bad things he could learn from the anti-hero, Peter only considering them because he’s in a rough spot at the moment. Ultimately though, the primary lesson Spider-Man should learn from the Punisher is to not end up like him.
Think about it like this: Frank Castle, despite all his feats and bravado, lives a lonely and destructive life; He has no loved ones, nothing to live for outside of routine acts of murder; His family died years ago and he’s not willing to move on from that. With this in mind, the key takeaway Spider-Man should have regarding Punisher is to never, ever emulate him, for fear of living a miserable existence. He’s already alone, anyway, he doesn’t need to dig himself into a deeper hole.
