Tom Holland wants to “return the favor” to Jon Bernthal and appear as Spider-Man in ‘The Punisher’ series

‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ is one of the most anticipated releases of the year, as well as one of the most eagerly awaited Marvel Studios films from the company’s recent era. Recently, Tom Holland spoke about the challenges of adapting Jon Bernthal’s character, the Punisher, into a film that isn’t strictly for adults. Aside from this collaboration between the web-slinger and the Punisher, Holland reveals that he would be delighted to “repay the favor” with a cameo appearance in ‘The Punisher’ series itself.

An R-Rated Spider-Man? Tom Holland’s unusual wish: to appear in ‘The Punisher’

In an exclusive interview with Empire magazine, Tom Holland revealed that he has taken a liking to collaborating with Jon Bernthal as the Punisher in the upcoming ‘Spider-Man’ film, which hits theaters on July 31. The actor highlights the great chemistry between Spider-Man and Frank Castle in this new feature film—something particularly interesting given their opposing philosophies on fighting crime.

For its part, ‘Brand New Day’ addresses one of the big questions surrounding a live-action Punisher: how to adapt it into a movie rated PG-13 without losing its violent essence? That said, Holland seems interested in exploring the opposite angle: what a Spider-Man series aimed at an 18+ audience would look like. In the actor’s own words: “I would love to pop up in one of [Punisher’s] shows,” he tells Empire. “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 favour.”

Following the integration of characters from Netflix shows into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Jon Bernthal’s Punisher has appeared in the series ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ and the limited series ‘The Punisher: One Last Kill’, though it remains unclear whether he will get his own standalone series again. Be that as it may, Tom Holland is more than willing to fight crime side by side with the Punisher, which would mark his leap to the small screen after several cameo appearances in both his own films and ensemble films like ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ (2018).

While the Punisher we’ll see in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ won’t be a “toned-down” or watered-down version of the violent vigilante, Tom Holland seems willing to push the boundaries of the Spidey we already know a bit further through a cameo or even by co-starring in an episode of a ‘Punisher’ series that hasn’t even been confirmed yet. For now, Marvel Studios is very prone to surprising its fans with all kinds of projects; where there’s smoke, there’s fire, so it doesn’t seem far-fetched that both Holland and Bernthal are pulling in the same direction to make this unique dream of both actors come true.

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