Spider-Man: Brand New Day SDCC Clip Has Punisher, Hulk Brawl Steal Hall H
Jon Bernthal walked onto Hall H’s stage at San Diego Comic-Con to introduce an exclusive clip from Spider-Man: Brand New Day, showing Frank Castle’s Punisher wading into a brawl between Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk just days before the film’s July 30 release in New Zealand and Australia. Jon Bernthal crashed Marvel’s Hall H panel with an exclusive Spider-Man: Brand New Day clip of Spidey and Punisher fighting the Hulk, six days before release. It was a brief but buzzy moment on a night otherwise dominated by Ghost Rider and Avengers: Doomsday reveals.
Bernthal Crashes Hall H Right After the Ghost Rider Reveal
Bernthal took the stage at Marvel’s Comic-Con panel on Saturday night, crashing in right after the Ryan Gosling Ghost Rider reveal to remind the room that Spider-Man: Brand New Day opens in theaters in six days, and he brought an exclusive clip with him. The timing placed the Punisher star directly after Marvel confirmed Ryan Gosling as the MCU’s new Ghost Rider, in a film to be directed by Shawn Levy.
Bernthal stepped onto the stage and introduced a new clip of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which showcased Spider-Man and the Punisher fighting the Hulk, according to Bam Smack Pow’s live coverage of the panel. The scene reportedly depicts an early confrontation in the film, before Peter Parker’s mutating powers push him toward the organic webbing teased throughout the marketing campaign.
Frank Castle’s Grenade Bounces Off a Still-Smart Hulk
Outlets in the room described a specific beat from the footage: Bernthal came on the Hall H stage to talk Spider-Man: Brand New Day and present exclusive new footage from the film ahead of its July 31 release date, showing Frank Castle throw a grenade at Smart Hulk. He catches it and says, “Really?” The grenade blows up and Hulk is thrown around. Rather than the fully savage Hulk teased in earlier trailers, the panel footage reportedly shows Ruffalo’s character still largely in control, giving the scene a comedic rather than purely destructive edge.
The bickering didn’t stop once the dust settled. Peter and Frank are seen bickering back and forth, with Frank making a comment about Peter blushing around MJ, which is funny as Peter is wearing his Spider-Man mask at the time of this comment. That banter fits the tonal contrast several outlets have flagged between Bernthal’s grim Punisher and the more optimistic Spidey formula Marvel and Sony have built since 2017.
Feige’s Reaction: “I Never Thought I’d See the Day”
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige weighed in immediately after the clip played, summing up a pairing few fans expected on the big screen. Feige added: “The Punisher, Spider-Man and the Hulk in a movie together? I never thought I’d see the day.” The line drew one of the loudest reactions of the night from the Hall H crowd, according to reporters covering the panel live.
Cosmic Book News framed the moment in similar terms, noting that Spidey quips that Frank is out of his league as Castle shoots bullets at the Hulk, with Frank firing back that he’s there “saving your ass” because MJ told him to help, with Kevin Feige summing up the room’s reaction as, “I never thought I’d see the day.” Both accounts of the panel line up on Feige’s exact wording, even if the two outlets described slightly different snippets of dialogue from what may be a longer sequence.
No Tom Holland, No Sadie Sink — But Marvel Still Called the Shot
Notably absent from the stage was the film’s lead. No Tom Holland, and no Sadie Sink on stage either, despite Sink being spotted in San Diego alongside Michael Mando, which means the Jean Grey mystery survived Comic-Con intact. Cosmic Book News argued that the light-touch presentation, one clip and a single walk-on from Bernthal, on a night otherwise stacked with Doomsday and Black Panther reveals, reflected studio confidence rather than a lack of enthusiasm for the release. Notice what Marvel didn’t do: on a night stacked with Doomsday reveals, Ghost Rider, and a new Black Panther, Brand New Day got one clip and a Bernthal walk-on. That’s not neglect, that’s confidence.
Read also: Marvel’s Wolverine, Marvel Rivals Headline SDCC 2026 as Hall H Reveals Ghost Rider, Black Panther 3
Spider-Man: Brand New Day Opens Ahead of the US in NZ and Australia
For local fans, the wait ends slightly earlier than in America. Flicks.com.au confirms that Spider-Man: Brand New Day is screening exclusively in Australian cinemas from July 30, 2026, a day ahead of the July 31 US theatrical debut most of the SDCC coverage referenced. New Zealand shares that same date, with Flicks.co.nz reporting the film screening exclusively in New Zealand cinemas from July 30, 2026.
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and produced by Amy Pascal and Kevin Feige, the film reunites Holland’s Peter Parker with Zendaya’s MJ, Jacob Batalon’s Ned Leeds and Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner, while adding Bernthal’s Punisher and newcomer Sadie Sink to a cast built around Spidey’s post-No Way Home anonymity. With the Hall H clip now circulating in written descriptions rather than official video, the exact Punisher-Hulk sequence remains something Kiwi and Australian audiences will only get to see in full once the film opens locally this Thursday.
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