2026 will be a big year for Jon Bernthal’s Punisher. While he won’t be seen in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, as many expected, the character will appear in his own Disney+ special. In addition, he’ll be one of the major characters featured in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, bringing the Punisher and Spider-Man together on the big screen for the first time. The often humorous tone of the current Spider-Man franchise stands as a sharp contrast to the darker tones in which Bernthal’s Punisher has typically interacted in the Daredevil shows and his own solo Netflix series.
Speaking with Screen Rant, Bernthal touched on the connection between Spider-Man: Brand New Day and the upcoming Punisher Special Presentation. Benrthal said he, Tom Holland, and Brand New Day director Destin Daniel Cretton worked to make sure that even in the more superpowered corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Punisher still felt like the version fans know. It was especially important to Bernthal to make sure the character could easily transition into his own grounded special after Brand New Day with no significant tonal whiplash:
“Around that same time, there will also be this Punisher special that’s coming out, that I think will be as high-octane Punisher as you’ve ever seen. I think what was really important to me and to Destin and to Tom is that we believed that The Punisher could walk off of the Spider-Man set and could walk onto the special set, and I do believe that we achieved that.”
When Will the Punisher Special Presentation Debut on Disney?
The Punisher’s role in Spider-Man: Brand New Day is significant for several reasons. For starters, the character made his debut in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 in 1974. Since then, the characters have been linked as uneasy allies, and as previously noted, Spider-Man: Brand New Day will mark their first time together onscreen. It also sees Tom Holland and Jon Bernthal reunite after co-starring in the 2017 film Pilgrimage; they’ll also appear together in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming epic The Odyssey.
Bernthal’s comments about the Punisher transitioning from Spider-Man: Brand New Day to his own special might indicate when the character’s Disney+ Special Presentation will air. Many suspected it would initially fill in the gap between the Punisher’s appearance in Daredevil: Born Again and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. There were theories that it could premiere in February, before Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 debuted, or possibly in the May to June window, which would be after Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 but before Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s Jul. 31, 2026, release date.
Yet now it seems that the Punisher Special Presentation will pick up in the aftermath of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, possibly in the fall of 2026 before the release of Avengers: Doomsday. So far, the only confirmed Disney+ release between Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday is Season 2 of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, but no exact date has been confirmed. Vision Quest is also expected to air in this timeframe, narrowing down when Disney+ could release and spotlight the Punisher before the attention shifts to Avengers: Doomsday. The best bet might be late August or early September, a little over a month after Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into theaters and before the re-release of Avengers: Endgame.
- Release Date
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July 22, 2026
- Director
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Destin Daniel Cretton
- Writers
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Chris McKenna