*Warning: Spoilers ahead for Spider-Man: Brand New Day* Ever since Spider-Man: Brand New Day landed in cinemas, everyone’s been losing it trying to figure out what happened between Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and Frank Castle, aka Punisher (Jon Bernthal) on Staten Island – but we may be waiting a while for answers. Although people had their doubts, Spidey and Punisher turn out to be the perfect frenemy duo in the latest Marvel movie. A long-running joke between the pair is that *something* went down on the New York City borough, but they stop short of fully revealing what. At the start of the film, Peter mentions about saving his life, to which Frank replies, “You gonna talk about that Staten Island bullsh*t again?” Later, Spidey takes MJ (Zendaya) to Frank’s place to keep her safe from Jean Grey (Sadie Sink). Frank is reluctant, but Peter insists that he owes him. “Aren’t you sick of this story?” Frank replies, but he again insists that he saved his life there. During this conversation (argument) we learn a little more, with Frank saying, “That guy couldn’t hit me with a handful of rice. I had him exactly where I wanted him.” Peter then turns to MJ and argues his case, saying, “A drug dealer was going to shoot the guy, then I webbed the gun, and kicked that drug dealer back into a storage container.” By the end of the film, the pair are fully on each other’s sides, but we still don’t learn anything else about what happened on that fateful day. And there’s nothing to tell us more in the comics, either. There’s a reason Marvel doesn’t explain it further This isn’t a plot hole, however. In fact, the cast have made it clear that this is just the beginning for Punisher in the MCU. And if you remember the Budapest lore, you’ll know that we’ll probably see what went down further down the line. Speaking to Rotten Tomatoes, Bernthal spoke about his future in the franchise. “I want to see how Frank can serve. I want to see how Frank can honour the dead, how Frank can honour the people that he lost by serving, not just by avenging,” he explained. “I think that we get there with Frank in some lines of the comic, and I want to get there. I want to get there on screen with him. I also want to continue to have the courage and the willingness to turn my back on the audience as Frank does. “There’s nothing about Frank Castle that he’s trying to be likable. There’s nothing about Frank where he’s trying to win over your hearts and minds. “And so, as much as I would like to explore Frank Castle that serves the community and that fights for justice, I also want to be completely willing and open to turning my back on the audience and going the other way with it too.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by IGN (@igndotcom) Of course, he doesn’t mention the Staten Island incident, but his comments at least suggest he’s hoping for more adventures in the future – meaning Brand New Day is just the beginning. Plus, Tom Holland told IGN that he loved working with Bernthal, and he believes fans will want more from the pair after seeing Brand New Day. “I want to do Spider-Man in his TV show,” he said. “What happens when you take a PG-13 character and put him in a rated X TV show?” If they do team up again and we do get the Staten Island lore, just don’t expect it anytime soon. As many fans have pointed out, “Staten Island lore being the new Budapest lore.” Credit: Disney The comparison centres on a mystery that originated in 2012’s The Avengers, where Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton referenced “Budapest”, hinting at a life-changing mission they shared before joining the Avengers. But they never explained what actually happened at the time, leaving fans theorising about it for almost a decade. It turned out the pair had carried out an assassination mission targeting Natasha’s former Red Room handler, Dreykov, as part of her final initiation into S.H.I.E.L.D. The mission was action packed, and saw Natasha and Clint hiding out for 10 days after. This wasn’t revealed until Black Widow, which dropped in 2021 – nine years after it was first mentioned. In other words, we may be waiting a while for the full deets on Staten Island. But at least we got more info than the Budapest saga. For all the latest film and TV updates and hot takes, like our Facebook page. Featured image credit: Sony Pictures Post navigation Next story
