In Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Spidey and The Punisher team up. It’s the first team-up for Frank Castle outside of his routine butting of heads with Daredevil. Castle made his “MCU” debut in the original Daredevil on Netflix, though its status as canon to the MCU is a little murky. Born Again, however, is definitively the MCU, and Castle reprised his role there before meeting Spider-Man.
Spoilers for Brand New Day will permeate this article, so here’s your warning. Ultimately, though Peter Parker and Frank Castle lock horns in a similar but watered-down way to The Punisher and Daredevil, they end up forging a strong relationship. The Punisher helps Spider-Man escape a hospital with his identity intact.
Frank also tags along to help Peter and houses MJ while she’s on the run from Jean Grey. Though they bicker (like siblings), there’s a real relationship between Spider-Man and The Punisher, and Frank even admits that he’s “never had a friend like” Peter.
Naturally, Daredevil has spent the most time with The Punisher, and they have a complicated but intense relationship themselves. How would the man without fear react to hearing about Frank’s new friendship? Well, Charlie Cox has an idea.
Charlie Cox’s Daredevil Responds to The Punisher’s Spider-Man Friendship
The Punisher and Daredevil have an immensely complicated relationship. They do seem to care about one another, evidenced by Frank’s willingness to help Matt Murdock in Born Again Season 1 and Matt’s willingness to defend Frank in court in the original Netflix show.
But they butt heads, both ideologically and physically. Frank believes that the only way to stop bad guys is by killing them, much like how his family was killed. Matt believes life is sacred, and he believes that the justice system has to be allowed to do its work rather than snuffing out every criminal who might one day commit a crime again.
Spider-Man finds himself on Daredevil’s side, though not as intensely. He even warns The Punisher in the opening of Brand New Day not to kill anyone, repeating it when he asks Frank Castle to help him take down Jean Grey. Despite their differences, they forge a friendship that The Punisher and Daredevil just haven’t been able to.
Deborah Ann Woll plays Karen Page in the MCU, who also has a close relationship with Frank Castle. She said via IGN, “Actually, I’m more offended by that for Karen, rather than Matt. Jesus Christ, Frank. G*******t. How many times have we saved each other’s lives?”
Charlie Cox echoed that sentiment, “Yeah, I think Deb is right. Matt and Frank, I don’t know that they’d call each other [friends]. I think there’s a mutual understanding and respect, but they’re not mates.” He summed it up by saying “it’s complicated” between the two.
New York is heavily populated with heroes, as evidenced by Brand New Day. Daredevil doesn’t make an appearance, sadly, but The Hulk, or rather Bruce Banner, is working as a professor at Empire State University. Frank Castle is hanging around, and the New Avengers, led by Yelena Belova, are stationed there, too.
It’s possible that we might one day see Daredevil and Spider-Man team up with The Punisher along for the ride, too, which could create some incredible dynamics. Frank and Matt may fight about their strongly-held ideals, while Peter might try to appease them both and keep them focused on what they have in common.
Either way, it’s not hard to see why The Punisher might feel more positive towards Spider-Man. Peter doesn’t bring up Frank’s family, and he only calmly disagrees with Frank’s killing, whereas Matt is much more pointed about it, trying relentlessly to convince Frank that he’s right.
Plus, Frank’s son would’ve been the same age as Peter Parker in Brand New Day, thanks to Peter blipping away for five years, so there’s an obvious kinship there, too.
