(Image Credit: Marvel Studios)
Spider-Man: Brand New Day will continue the Marvel Cinematic Universe sub-franchise’s trend of being chock full of other superheroes. While plot details remain under wraps, a new rumor has revealed how Mark Ruffalo‘s Hulk and Jon Bernthal‘s Punisher factor into the superhero blockbuster alongside another major Marvel character.
Hulk and Punisher’s roles in Spider-Man: Brand New Day are linked to major X-Men hero
Frank Castle/The Punisher and Bruce Banner/Hulk have been confirmed to appear in the fourth MCU-set Spider-Man movie since last year. Bernthal’s return was announced in June 2025, with Ruffalo’s involvement confirmed a couple of months later in August.
According to X user @Majestic_ucm, who is known for sharing reliable rumors and leaks, the Punisher’s role in Brand New Day will be protecting Jean Grey — possibly played by Sadie Sink — from Damage Control. As for Hulk, Tom Holland’s Peter Parker will seek out Bruce Banner for help after “experiencing a crisis with his powers, similar to Tobey Maguire’s, with malfunctions linked to his emotional state.”
Both the Punisher and Hulk’s paths will collide when “Jean’s powers end up transforming Banner into the Grey Hulk.” This part of the post reaffirms a previous report that Punisher and Spider-Man would team-up in the movie to fight the Grey Hulk. The post goes on to state that Bruce Banner will be “a secondary antagonist” in Brand New Day, with Tombstone and Scorpion the main villains.
Check out the full post on X below:
Spider-Man is experiencing a crisis with his powers, similar to Tobey Maguire’s, with malfunctions linked to his emotional state.Punisher is protecting Jean Grey from Damage Control, who continues to pursue her in New York.A Daily Bugle montage makes references to Daredevil… pic.twitter.com/NABKGGJ01J— MAJESTIC_ucm (@Majestic_ucm) January 9, 2026
Spider-Man: Brand New Day picks up after the events of 2021’s No Way Home, which ended with the universe forgetting who Peter Parker was, allowing for the MCU to bring Holland’s Spider-Man closer to his comic book counterpart. Production on the superhero sequel lasted from August to December 2025, with Destin Daniel Cretton in the director’s chair.
Besides the aforementioned actors, Brand New Day will also feature the returns of Zendaya as Michelle “MJ” Jones-Watson, Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds, and Michael Mando as Mac Gargan/Scorpion. Sadie Sink, Liza Colón-Zayas, and Tramell Tillman have also been cast, with Marvin Jones III portraying Tombstone.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is scheduled to hit theaters on July 31, 2026, as part of Phase 6 of the MCU.
