Ever since Spider-Man: Homecoming wrapped production back in early October, fans have been eagerly waiting for the first trailer for the film to drop. Since then, news stories surrounding the film have been few and far between, as Marvel has kept plot details close to the chest. However, even though no breaking news has dropped in the past few weeks, Jacob Batalon, who plays Ned Leeds in the film, recently sat down with a local news station in his home state of Hawaii to talk about his role in the film.
“Ned Leeds. I play Peter Parker’s best friend in the film,” Batalon tells HKON2. “We are both in high school. We are about fifteen. It’s about Peter dealing with being a superhero and going through puberty. He still has to worry about homework. He still has to worry about his crush liking him while trying to save someone who’s probably in a burning building. He can’t tell anyone because he’s not the cool kid, so he is just stuck with this really cool life that he can’t tell anyone about.”
While this is nothing we haven’t heard before about the plot, Batalon’s comments do reveal some minor details about his character. As stated in the interview, Batalon will be playing Ned Leeds, a character with a rich history in the comics. Back in the early issues of The Amazing Spider-Man, Ned Leeds was several years older than Peter, and he worked as a reporter for the Daily Bugle. Leeds also eventually fell in love with and married Betty Brant, one of Peter’s coworkers at the Bugle.
However, Leeds’ role in the larger scope of the MCU will differ greatly from the version seen in the classic comic books. Batalon tells us that this version of Leeds is 15 years old, the same age as Peter Parker in the film. He also tells us that Ned will be Peter’s best friend in this particular incarnation of the character, a role that is usually filled by Harry Osborn in the previous films and comics. While this seems to be a major departure from the source material, there is still a possibility that Ned could remain faithful to one of his biggest story arcs in the comics as the Hobgoblin.
The Hobgoblin was first introduced in the 1980s and remained one of Spider-Man’s only foes who had never been unmasked for years. After years of misdirection, it was revealed that Ned Leeds was behind the hideous mask.
Not long after, it was then revealed that Leeds had been framed by fashion designer Roderick Kingsley, a fashion designer who was truly the Hobgoblin all along. While it has yet to be confirmed by Batalon or anyone else, we are only left to speculate that Leeds could potentially become one of Spider-Man’s greatest foes, who has thus far been absent from the big screen. You can check out Batalon’s full interview below.
What do you think? Will Batalon eventually suit up as the Hobgoblin? Sound off in the comments below!
Source: Cosmic Book News.
