Just because everyone’s memory was wiped of Peter Parker as Spider-Man in the last web-slinger outing doesn’t mean he won’t still have friends. Or enemies.

Sources confirmed to the Hollywood trade publications on Friday that Jon Bernthal will join the cast of the fourth Tom Holland-as-Spidey film, which bears the sub-head Brand New Day. This marks the first time the character of The Punisher will appear in an official MCU movie.

Bernthal, who has played Frank Castle since Daredevil season 2 and starred in Netflix’s stand-alone Marvel series The Punisher, will be joining the Spider-Man: Brand New Day cast, though like nearly everything else we know about this movie, there are no details about how his character and Peter Parker/Spider-Man will interact.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day takes place after the events of the previous installment, Spider-Man: No Way Home. Thanks to some alternate-universe shenanigans, no one, even Peter’s love MJ (Zendaya) or best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) remember Peter or his secret identity.

Destin Daniel Cretton, who directed Shang-Chi and the Legend of The Ten Rings, will direct. Sadie Sink also joins the Spider-Verse for the next film.

Frank Castle has been a busy Punisher lately; the character, played by Bernthal, appeared in Disney’s Daredevil: Born Again and will return for season 2. The Punisher is also getting his own Disney+ special, which Bernthal is co-writing. Bernthal and Holland have worked together before, on the 2017 movie Pilgrimage.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day opens in theaters on July 31st, 2026.