By Zan Haider
HUGE SPOILERS FOR NO WAY HOME LAY AHEAD!
As if the week couldn’t have gotten any better for us webheads! We can officially, unofficially confirm that Marvel Studios wants to move forward with Jon Bernthal’s Punisher as the main antagonist for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man 4. While Bernthal hasn’t mentioned anything as of late, don’t be surprised if this ends up happening. Remember Andrew Garfield’s “Werewolf” analogy? Not to mention that Tobey never mentioned any involvement in No Way Home, and yet, it happened! Silence is definitely not a denial here.
The chances of this happening are highly likely, due to the current MCU precedent(s) of re-introducing Netflix MCU characters. Firstly, in episode 5 of Hawkeye, we see the beloved return of the Kingpin, played by Vincent D’Onofrio. Secondly, in No Way Home, we see the return of our favorite 'really good lawyer', Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock. Both of these characters heavily interacted with Cox’s Daredevil in Netflix’s Daredevil, and seeing that Kevin Feige is 1. Listening to the fans and 2. Actively incorporating Netflix characters into the MCU now, the chances of Bernthal playing the main antagonist to Holland’s Spidey are as high as the Empire State Building!
As comic book fans, we forget that a huge aspect of the industry is connections and familiarity. Fortunately for us, Bernthal and Holland have a history together! Firstly, they worked on the 2017 medieval drama Pilgrimage. Check out with Tom said about Bernthal’s ad-libbed slap during filming:
"I was like 'Oh my God!' and it was great, and it worked so well for the scene, but he just- He just didn't want me to know it was coming. But he properly cracked me one. I look back on that as a very fond experience, and meeting him was, you know, one of the highlights."
Secondly, Bernthal’s media coverage for Pilgrimage resulted in questions about Tom Holland. Here is what he had to say:
“Tom is one of the best actors I’ve ever worked with… Tom is the one who I bonded with the most during my time [for Pilgrimage]."
However, Bernthal is also a huge fan of the Punisher. Here is what he said to say with The Hollywood Reporter earlier this month:
“It needs to be a level of darkness… I think if there’s any let up on that character, you do a disservice to the character, to every iteration of the character, to every comic book that’s come before, and to all of the unbelievable fans of the character. This character means so much to people in the military. So like I said before, it’s not about whether you do the character; it’s about whether you can do it right, and I’m only interested in doing it right.”
It appears that Tom and Bernthal are not only fans of one another– they also have history creating fantastic scenes together. Bernthal is also willing to return as the Punisher, only if it retains the darkness and intensity that was shown in the Netflix show. Crosshairs crossed!
Considering the aesthetic and story of No Way Home, it’s safe to say that Spidey’s MCU adventures will absolutely get darker and more violent going forward. Having a villain like the Punisher will help establish Peter as a “friendly neighborhood” superhero, and will tonally shift the story and character– which is what Tom himself said about the new Spidey trilogy! It also perfectly ties into the moral message from No Way Home; Peter truly believes that “great power comes great responsibility” and puts his life in danger, all in an effort to save the Sinister “Five” from themselves. As a result, this iteration of Peter Parker establishes his “no-kill” rule, stating that he believes in “second chances.”
Frank Castle doesn’t. He just puts two bullets in criminals’ heads.
And as a result, Spider-Man 4 could potentially be set up as a philosophical battle between two men on opposite sides of morality- Peter lost Aunt May to the Goblin and still believes in redemption, while Frank lost his family to the Mafia and believes in extermination. How would Feige introduce The Punisher into the MCU? Well, that's something we'll just have to wait and see. But, here's a little taster as to what we could expect to happen in Spider-Man 4:
Two men, with similar situations, coming to completely different moralities? Web me up!
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