Spider-Man: Brand New Day Could Replace Iron Man in The Coolest Way

For better or worse, there is no Spider-Man without Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Tony Stark saves a young Peter Parker during the Stark Expo in Iron Man 2 without thinking anything of it, but he earns a lifelong fan who becomes a hero when he gets the chance years later. In Captain America: Civil War, Tony recruits Peter to join his team, which is gearing up to fight Steve Rogers’ group in Germany, even giving the young hero a new suit. After that, the two are as thick as thieves, always having each other’s backs when times get tough.

Of course, Tony has to watch Peter die on Titan in Avengers: Infinity War, and while he tries to lock all the pain away, he gets back on the horse and finds a way to bring everyone back. The plan works like a dream, but Tony loses his life after using the Infinity Gauntlet to wipe out Thanos and his army. Ever since, Spider-Man has been working to be a hero Tony would be proud of. Well, in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Peter is going to have a chance to put his money where his mouth his by providing another hero with a major upgrade.

Frank Castle Is Going to Be in Over His Head in Spider-Man: Brand New Day

With Iron Man out of the picture, the Wall-Crawler has been hanging out with some other notable MCU figures in his solo movies. Nick Fury (who is actually the Skrull Talos posing as the spy) brings Mysterio and Peter together to take on the Elementals in Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Doctor Strange offers to make everyone forget the connection between the young man and Queens’ resident hero in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Brand New Day will continue the trend by bringing Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, into the fold. Since the movie is still about a year out, his role is a mystery at this point, but it’s probably going to have something to do with the Hulk, who’s going to pick a fight with a couple of New York’s best.

As confident as the Punisher is while battling rogue cops and ninjas, the Hulk is in a whole different league, as he can go toe-to-toe with massive wolves and Asgardians. Peter is sure to recognize the pickle that he’s in, so he may offer to help Frank out by gifting him a suit of armor. That way, when the Hulk starts throwing punches, the Punisher won’t be down for the count after one blow. The decision also wouldn’t be completely out of left field, as the Punisher has a history with Iron Man armor in Marvel Comics.

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Marvel is constantly reinventing its characters to keep things fresh. Big characters like Captain America and Spider-Man get a lot of the attention because they’re the cream of the crop, but the wave of change hits everyone eventually. Punisher has been Ghost Rider and something resembling Frankenstein’s monster that leads a group known as the Legion of Monsters. However, one of his most effective eras sees him don the War Machine armor after Nick Fury calls him in to take out ex-SHIELD soldiers. Frank likes the power that the suit gives him, so he takes it back to New York with him and cleans up the streets.

It doesn’t take long for Punisher to take things too far, though, and the Avengers have to intervene. While the anti-hero doesn’t want to give up his new toy, he does after having a heart-to-heart conversation with James Rhodes, the original War Machine. Rhodey is still around in the MCU, and he’s probably not looking to hand over his baby to someone like Frank. But if Peter vouches for him and promises to return it after defeating the Hulk, Rhodey may relent because lives are on the line. At that point, it’ll be up to Frank to not let the power go to his head.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day hits theaters on July 31, 2026.

Do you think Frank Castle could use the War Machine armor in Spider-Man: Brand New Day? Is there another way for him to fight the Hulk? Let us know in the comments below!