As movie theaters are slowly being reopened, there are a lot of long-delayed blockbusters that moviegoers can’t wait to see, but arguably the most highly anticipated of them all is Spider-Man: No Way Home, the conclusion to Spidey’s MCU solo trilogy and the follow-up to Far From Home’s bombshell twist ending.
After the shocking mid-credits scene in Far From Home, No Way Home is poised to be a Spider-Man movie like no other. Peter Parker’s secret identity has been revealed to the world, thanks to a nefarious posthumous plot by Mysterio and the Daily Bugle’s unscrupulous journalistic practices, and he’s also been framed for the attack on London. So, pretty much everybody in New York will be looking for Peter at the beginning of No Way Home. The cops will want to bring him in for the London attack and the city’s criminals will want to exact gruesome revenge on the wisecracking wallcrawler.
This predicament is similar to that of Keanu Reeves’ title character at the beginning of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. At the end of Chapter 2, John broke the rules of the assassin community by killing on Continental grounds, so he lost his protection against having a price placed on his head. A hefty sum was promptly offered and every assassin in the world came looking for Baba Yaga. This set up Parabellum to open with John fending off New York’s entire contract killer population.
After Mac Gargan hinted at a band of hardened criminals who wanted Spidey’s blood in Homecoming’s mid-credits scene, it wouldn’t be surprising if No Way Home opens with a similar sequence. Spidey was right in the middle of Manhattan when the news broke, and he’ll want to get back to Queens to make sure Aunt May is safe in light of the Bugle’s inflammatory reports. Either right in the middle of the bustling city or back at May’s apartment, Peter will have to tangle with the biggest, baddest criminals New York has to offer. This could pave the way for a beloved character from the Netflix Marvel-verse to finally make the transition to the big screen.
Ever since Alfred Molina was confirmed to reprise his role as Doctor Octopus – and not only that, the same Doc Ock from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 – the rumor mill has been going wild about possible cameo appearances. Since Peter’s current situation puts him in need of legal counsel, both Daredevil and She-Hulk are in the mix. The Sinister Six’s introduction seems like a no-brainer, too, with Doc Ock and Electro joining the fold and the Vulture being left alive in Homecoming. Some fans are even expecting a live-action Spider-Verse that brings in Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men for a big team-up.
While all these cameos would be fun to see (and hopefully at least a couple of those rumors will turn out to be true), there’s one character whose name hasn’t come up who’d make a great foil for Tom Holland’s Spidey and also fit perfectly into his current circumstances: Frank Castle. When New York’s gangs inevitably come after Peter, Jon Bernthal’s Punisher could appear in a super-violent John Wick-style cameo – possibly even shot in an unbroken long take like the unforgettably intense sequences from Children of Men and True Detective – as he shows up to save Peter and escorts him out of a gang hideout or an abandoned warehouse before dropping him off at Sanctum Sanctorum so Doctor Strange can take care of him.
The rights to the Netflix characters recently reverted back to Marvel Studios following a grace period after Disney unexpectedly canceled every single MCU show on Netflix to pave the way for its own MCU shows on its own streaming service. It would be a shame if Marvel does nothing more with these characters. The Netflix series set up riveting arcs for a bunch of fan-favorite icons who were all cast perfectly, and they all have unresolved storylines from their shows.
In an ideal world, Marvel would make a standalone R-rated Punisher movie with Bernthal’s Frank Castle (possibly adapted from the classic “The Slavers” arc), but Kevin Feige has said that the only R-rated MCU movie on the horizon is Deadpool 3. While keeping the R-rated efforts in the MCU limited is a wise move, there are more Marvel characters than just Deadpool who thrive more with the freedom of an R rating than the restrictions of a PG-13 rating, like Blade, Wolverine, and of course, the Punisher.
However, since an R-rated Punisher movie seems unlikely, an action-packed cameo appearance in No Way Home will do for now. A full-blown team-up of Bernthal’s Punisher and Holland’s Spidey would be fun – it doesn’t have to just be a cameo – but Doctor Strange is already confirmed to be Peter’s mentor in No Way Home.