Spoiler warning. In Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Peter Parker, played by Tom Holland, repeatedly references a past incident in Staten Island involving Frank Castle, played by Jon Bernthal, but the film never fully explains what happened.
The subject comes up early, during a sequence in which Spider-Man tries to stop a tank heading toward the Department of Damage Control building. When Frank arrives and moves to resolve the situation in his own way, Peter reminds him that he once saved his life in Staten Island. Frank denies it.
The incident surfaces again when Peter needs Frank’s help to protect MJ, played by Zendaya, from a telepath. Peter again invokes the favour Frank owes him.
What details the film gives
The movie makes clear that the two characters knew each other before the events of the film, but when they finally argue about what happened, both speak at the same time and only fragments emerge. According to those fragments, the incident involved a drug trafficker and Peter intervened before something tragic could occur.
Fans of the franchise have compared the Staten Island mystery to the recurring Budapest reference shared by Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff in earlier Avengers films, an offscreen event mentioned in passing but never shown.
Could the pair return?
By the end of Brand New Day, Peter and Frank have formed a bond. Frank now knows Peter’s identity and, according to the film, has come to respect the way Spider-Man deals with his enemies.
Tom Holland said previously that he would love to return the favour to Jon Bernthal by appearing as Spider-Man in a Punisher series, raising the possibility that the Staten Island story may eventually be told in full.
