What Happened Between Spider-Man And The Punisher On Staten Island?

Mild spoilers follow.

Throughout "Spider-Man: Brand New," Tom Holland's hero and Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle/The Punisher repeatedly refer to a mysterious event that took place on New York's Staten Island. Many fans will likely be wondering exactly happened between these two. Did we all will miss a previous Marvel Cinematic Universe installment that explains all? Well, it turns out nobody really knows the answer to this one, as the Staten Island incident was never actually depicted in any film or TV show and serves only as a running joke.

"Spider-Man: Brand New Day" is Holland's best outing as Web-Head yet, finally putting the titular hero at the center of his own story after three movies where he often played second fiddle. One of the coolest tricks this movie pulls off is including multiple MCU cameos without detracting too much from the main plot. Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova/Black Widow, Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner/Hulk, and Sadie Sink's Jean Grey all appear in "Brand New Day," with the latter setting up the MCU's X-Men saga. But Bernthal's Punisher is a real stand-out, providing an unlikely comic foil to Spidey throughout the movie.

From the very beginning, the pair refer to a prior event on Staten Island, where Spider-Men evidently feels as though he saved Punisher's life. The incident itself remains mysterious throughout, though it seems to have involved Spidey stepping in to rescue his buddy from a drug dealer in the NYC borough. Those wondering what they missed needn't fret. This is one MCU moment that was never actually depicted on-screen.

When The Punisher was announced as being in "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" many were concerned about him bringing an R-Rated sensibility to the movie. But it turns out this Frank Castle is a much more light-hearted version, there to begrudgingly support Spidey in his fight against the Department of Damage Control (DODC) and Jean Grey. In the film, the pair's delightfully contentious rapport revolves around a previous incident in which Spider-Man saved Castle's life on Staten Island, with the latter maintaining that he didn't actually need the wall-crawler's help at all.

But many will be wondering what they missed. Those who didn't see Disney's ultra-violent special "The Punisher: One Last Kill" will likely have thought the whole Staten Island thing played out during the events of that show. In reality, no show or movie has depicted this event. In fact, prior to "Brand New Day," Spidey and The Punisher had never been seen together in a Marvel Cinematic Universe project. As such, the Staten Island incident serves not only as a running joke that encapsulates the duo's dynamic, but as a way to give them some sort of background and establish the fact they knew each other prior to the events of the film.

What exactly happened? Well, it seems likely Marvel will keep this one a secret for as long as possible, providing audiences with a mystery that can be endlessly debated and thereby helping to maintain fan engagement. As such, the Staten Island incident is very reminiscent of a previous long-running MCU joke.

The Staten Island incident referenced in "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" is very similar to a similar running gag between Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). In previous Marvel Cinematic Universe installments, the pair repeatedly referred to a mission in Budapest that forever tied them together. But we never actually found out what occurred in the Hungarian capital.

The mission was first referenced in 2012's "The Avengers." It then cropped up several more times in various MCU projects before 2021's "Black Widow" paid off the original reference to Budapest in "The Avengers," Turns out Black Widow and Hawkeye were involved in a mission to assassinate General Dreykov (Ray Winstone), head of the Black Widow program, which culminated in the pair having to spend ten days hiding in the city before finally escaping. Will we ever get a similar explanation for the Staten Island incident? Perhaps, but it seems likely Marvel Studios will once again let this one play out for a while.

The Punisher and Spider-Man's dynamic was one of the best parts of "Brand New Day" and the Staten Island joke is a great way to keep the unlikely duo bickering as the next phase of the MCU plays out. For now, then, fans will just have to speculate about what could have happened. Was The Punisher really about to lose his life to a drug dealer? Or is Spidey exaggerating to try to tease his new buddy?