One More Day Era as Mister Negative’s Soldier

As the Punisher barrels into Spider-Man’s Brand New Day era, Frank Castle will be the subject of a dark new twist. The lethal vigilante may be a killer, but he’s traditionally an ally to the Web-Spinner. Sadly for Peter Parker, that’s about to change.

Punisher was first introduced in 1974’s Amazing Spider-Man #129, tricked by the villainous Jackal into trying to assassinate Spider-Man. With Jon Bernthal depicting the character in the MCU and soon in the cinematic Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the character is about to become a threat to Spidey once again…

Punisher Is Being Controlled by Mister Negative in New Appearance

Marvel just revealed solicit information for Spectacular Spider-Man: Brand New Day #2 – a new comic that will revisit the hero’s 2007 era, which revamped his comic lore in a soft relaunch. Coming from Dan Slott, Marcus To and Marcos Martín, Declan Shalvey’s variant cover shows the Punisher under the control of the villainous Mister Negative.

Spectacular Spider-Man: Brand New Day will see Peter Parker take on Mister Negative – a significant villain first introduced as part of the comic era. Negative can corrupt others with a touch, and will seemingly unleash Punisher against Spidey, resurrecting their original antagonistic relationship.

Marvel Is Expanding ‘Brand New Day’ Ahead of MCU Adaptation

And It Isn’t Stopping There, With ‘Long Way Home’ Also Coming Soon

Marvel’s comics often tie into its MCU offerings, and it’s clear that Marvel wants a lot of Spider-Man: Brand New Day-friendly comics on shelves this year. Spectacular Spider-Man: Brand New Day will follow Spidey, Mister Negative and Punisher as they pursue the Lexicon – a record of Kingpin’s entire criminal empire.

Elsewhere, the comic series Spider-Man: Long Way Home will bring together Spider-Man, Punisher and the Hulk, flashing back to a time before the three heroes were familiar with each other.

That series – from Jonathan Hickman and Adam Kubert – will see the three pursuing a Cosmic Cube held by science-terrorists A.I.M., meeting in the jungles of South America. The story says it takes place in “a world before the Punisher”, suggesting Frank Castle won’t yet have adopted his vigilante identity (though cover art shows him in full costume.)

That means the story is likely set before Amazing Spider-Man #129, and will become the new canon first meeting of Peter Parker and Frank Castle. Neither of these comics is set in the MCU, but Marvel has pulled out all the stops to bring the movie’s big characters together in interesting ways.

Comic Fans Should Be Excited for This Increased Synergy with the MCU

For years, comic fans have complained that Marvel doesn’t do enough to parlay movie success into comic fandom. However, recently Marvel has been pulling out the stops. That’s the case with these upcoming comics, with the ‘Long Way Home’ subtitle even using MCU-adjacent language.

At the same time, Marvel has been publishing a series of tie-in comics to Fantastic Four: First Steps, telling the team’s backstory and that of their biggest villains, explicitly set in MCU canon.

While comic fans don’t want existing comic lore warped to fit what movie fans expect that year, this is something different – it’s Marvel publishing exciting new miniseries with character combos that directly appeal to a movie audience.

Returning to Spider-Man‘s Brand New Day era with a story that turns the Punisher into Mister Negative’s thrall is a smart decision, and one that perfectly serves both comic and movie audiences.

Spectacular Spider-Man: Brand New Day #2 is coming June 17.