The Punisher’s first interaction with the Hulk in their crossover with Spider-Man is ripped right out of a horror movie, as the Green Goliath threatens Frank Castle. Besides the twenty-seven major characters returning in Avengers: Doomsday, the return of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner, and Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle in Spider-Man: Brand New Day is one of the most anticipated cinematic events of 2026. While they’re three of the MCU’s most popular heroes, none of them had met or at least interacted directly with the others on-screen until now.
Spider-Man is the natural bridge between the gritty, grounded, street-level underworld of the Punisher’s war on crime and Hulk’s larger-than-life battles against monsters as powerful as himself, both solo and with the Avengers. Spider-Man can struggle against criminals like Scorpion, Tombstone, or Kingpin just as much as he usually does against supervillains such as Electro, Carnage, or Red Hulk. Sometimes, Peter Parker finds himself in the middle of both worlds, and sometimes, he needs to keep heroes like the Punisher and the Hulk under control at the same time.
Ahead of all three MCU heroes’ crossover in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Marvel plays with their explosive dynamics in Spider-Man: Long Way Home, releasing this September.
Spider-Man: Long Way Home #1; Written By Jonathan Hickman; Art By Adam Kubert And Arthur Hesli
Jonathan Hickman and Adam Kubert’s Spider-Man: Long Way Home takes place in a timeline where Spider-Man and the Punisher have yet to meet the Hulk, who’s an urban legend overseas. Frank Castle works as a mercenary, assigned with the task of retrieving a Cosmic Cube from AIM, only to realize the Cube is guarded by none other than the Hulk. After Hulk slaughters Frank’s brothers-in-arms, the first thing he does is mock and threaten the Punisher, telling him, “you didn’t miss… All you did was make me angry. Well? You gonna stand there? Or you gonna run?”
Normally, Bruce Banner’s Savage Hulk counterpart takes a long while to develop the ability to speak eloquently due to his childlike nature. Savage Hulk represents Banner’s repressed childhood trauma, meaning that he behaves like an infant throwing a tantrum on a monstrous scale. Although all Marvel heroes are seemingly early in their journey in this timeline, the Hulk appears to have matured dramatically, already capable of threatening and toying with his opponents, and even coming up with combat tactics on the spot, such as sneaking up behind entire groups of armed enemies before crushing them to bits.
Spider-Man Long Way Home Teases What Brand New Day Will Be Like
Spider-Man: Brand New Day Features The Most Volatile Hero Team-Up In The Franchise
Spider-Man: Long Way Home integrates the titular hero after SHIELD realizes that facing the Hulk requires more than black ops squads and one-man-armies like Frank Castle. Meanwhile, Spider-Man: Brand New Day seems to bring Peter Parker and the Punisher together during an urban conflict with criminals like Scorpion, only bringing the Hulk into the mix due to Spidey’s efforts to understand his mutating body. Still, the three heroes’ dynamics seem to be quite similar. Frank Castle and Spider-Man are willing to find a middle ground, while Bruce Banner is unable to control his Savage Hulk persona even after years of trying to contain it.
It’s Officially The End Of An Era For Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk Ahead Of Spider-Man’s Avengers Crossover
The Hulk has had one of the most interesting character arcs in the MCU, and Bruce Banner’s confirmed return proves there’s still more to come.
Like the MCU’s Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Long Way Home, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man has already worked with SHIELD, dropped off overseas, and made a name for himself as a reliable superhero. The MCU’s Spider-Man has also teamed up with Iron Man, Talos, Doctor Strange, and the Avengers before struggling to gel just as smoothly with the Punisher and the Hulk. Both versions of the wall-crawler probably dream of having a different set of allies at the moment, but their ability to deal with Frank Castle and the Hulk’s explosive behaviors is a skill few street-level heroes possess.
How do you want Spider-Man, Hulk, and the Punisher to interact in Spider-Man: Brand New Day?
Spider-Man: Long Way Home #1 is now available from Marvel Comics
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- Alias
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Peter Parker, Ben Reilly, Otto Octavius, Yu Komori, Kaine Parker, Pavitr Prabhakar, William Braddock, Miles Morales, Kurt Wagner
- Created By
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Stan Lee, Steve Ditko
- Franchise
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Marvel, Spider-Man
- Race
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Human
- First Appearance
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Amazing Fantasy
- Alliance
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Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Secret Defenders, Future Foundation, Heroes for Hire, Mighty Avengers, New Avengers, Web-Warriors
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- Alias
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Robert Bruce Banner
- Created By
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Stan Lee, Jack Kirby
- Franchise
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Marvel
- First Appearance
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The Incredible Hulk (1962)
- Alliance
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Avengers, Defenders, Horsemen of Apocalypse, Fantastic Four, Pantheon, Warbound, S.M.A.S.H., Secret Avengers
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- Created by
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Gerry Conway, John Romita Sr., Ross Andru
- First Film
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The Punisher
- Latest Film
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Punisher: War Zone
- Upcoming Films
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The Punisher Special Presentation
- First TV Show
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The Punisher
- Latest TV Show
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The Punisher