The latest Punisher update might mean Disney+ Marvel shows and movies taking place in the same continuity

The internet was abuzz with excitement when it was revealed that the Punisher, as played by Jon Bernthal, would appear in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. This casting announcement has fans excited because a few months ago, rumors circulated on the internet that Marvel was keeping the shows and movies separate. It gained traction when Thunderbolts*/The New Avengers did not refer to Wilson Fisk or his anti-vigilante task force.

However, Frank Castle/the Punisher's casting in Brand New Day means that the movies and Disney+ shows not featuring the movie characters all take place in the same continuity, i.e., the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This feels different than what the situation was ten years ago when there was a clear division between the MCU movies and Netflix shows, of which The Punisher was a part.

How does Punisher being a part of Spider-Man: Brand New Day fix a decade-long problem?

The Netflix Marvel Universe began with Daredevil Season 1 in 2015. This season of Daredevil was filled with MCU references, and the Avengers Tower was also visible in the finale in the background. Moreover, there are references to the Chitauri invasion from 2012's The Avengers throughout the first season. Thus, fans believed for a while that Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock/Daredevil could team up with the Avengers.

However, Daredevil Season 2 (released in March 2016), the season in which Bernthal debuted as the Punisher, contained very minimal references to the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe. That's because of the August 2015 shake-up that saw Kevin Feige head the films division, and the control of Marvel TV was given to Jeph Loeb, who continued to work under Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter, who is Marvel Entertainment's CEO.

Feige and Perlmutter didn't share a cordial professional relationship, and the latter was micromanaging the production of Captain America: Civil War. Thus, rumors circulated on the internet that the lack of easter eggs in the overall MCU was because of this fraught relationship. Plus, the movies made it worse by never referring to the Netflix shows.

Now, Frank Castle/the Punisher joining Spider-Man: Brand New Day finally signifies that Marvel Studios is ready to acknowledge the Netflix Marvel shows, which were canonized into the Marvel Cinematic Universe just recently.

For a long time, Marvel ignored the Netflix shows

Moreover, after Avengers: Infinity War's release, Netflix began to pull the plug on all of its Netflix Marvel shows, starting with Luke Cage Season 2. Daredevil's cancellation just a few days after the streaming of its acclaimed third season saw fans start an online campaign, in the vein of the Snyder Cut movement, unlike those of Jessica Jones and The Punisher's reactions, which were somber.

This abrupt cancellation was something that had some fans critical of Disney's need to be family-friendly. However, fans became more and more hopeful between November and December 2021 as Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio were brought back as Matt Murdock/Daredevil and Kingpin in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Hawkeye, respectively.

Charlie Cox spoke about Netflix Marvel shows being ignored by the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe during Variety's Actors on Actors podcast, where he sat down with his fellow MCU actor Joe Locke. When Locke asked the Daredevil actor how the Netflix Marvel actors felt about being left out by the overall MCU, Cox replied:

"We always used to joke about feeling like we’re the stepkids."

Locke asked Cox if the actor feels included, and he responded positively. Hiring Jon Bernthal in Spider-Man: Brand New Day only signifies that the Netflix Marvel shows are officially canon now.

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