(Photo Credit: Marvel Studios)
Spider-Man wants to break away from the PG-13 rating. Or rather, Tom Holland wants to see an R-rated iteration of the friendly neighborhood web-slinger.
Holland revealed his wish ahead of the release of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, even revealing which MCU character he’d like Spider-Man to cross over with. The film will see him return as the titular character, while Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, and Mark Ruffalo will reprise their characters from previous films.
What MCU character does Tom Holland want to have an R-rated Spider-Man crossover with?
During a conversation with Empire Magazine, Holland expressed his gratitude to Jon Bernthal for being a part of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. He also disclosed his desire to have an R-rated crossover with Bernthal’s Punisher.
“I would love to pop up in one of [Punisher’s] shows,” Holland said. “Let’s see what an R-rated version of Spider-Man looks like. I’m so grateful for Jon for taking the leap and being a part of the film, and I would love to repay the favor.”
Tom Holland would “repay the favour” and have Spider-Man appear in The Punisher after Brand New Day crossover.“I would love to pop up in one of his shows,” he tells Empire. “Let’s see what an R-rated version of Spider-Man looks like.”Read more: https://t.co/z69xpApbnR pic.twitter.com/wQcumRIm6y— Empire (@empiremagazine) June 1, 2026
Bernthal further revealed that Holland pushed him to take the character while the two were working together on the 2017 film Pilgrimage and were also auditioning for their Marvel roles.
“I really wasn’t familiar with the Punisher. I wasn’t a huge comic-book guy,” Bernthal said. “Tom was really the one that said, ‘Man, this character’s so great,’ and he explained it to me.”
Spider-Man: Brand New Day marks Bernthal’s MCU big-screen debut as the Punisher after years of portraying the character on television. It will also see Sadie Sink and Tramell Tillman in undisclosed roles, while Michael Mando will be seen as Mac Gargan/Scorpion, and Marvin Jones III will be seen as Lonnie Lincoln/Tombstone.
The official synopsis for the film reads, “Alone and crime-fighting in a New York City that no longer knows his name, Peter Parker has devoted himself to being a full-time Spider-Man. But as the pressure on Spider-Man intensifies, Peter undergoes a surprising physical evolution that threatens his existence.”
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is slated to release in theaters on July 31, 2026.
