Spider-Man: No Way Home star Jacob Batalon, who plays Spider-Man's best friend Ned Leeds in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, discusses a potential return for his character. In the Marvel Comics, Ned functions as Peter Parker's colleague and sometimes rival at the Daily Bugle and eventually marries Betty Brant. He is later brainwashed and acts as Spider-Man villain the Hobgoblin, using the character's equipment though he doesn't possess the villain's superpowers. The MCU went a different direction with the character, introducing him in 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming as Peter's (Tom Holland) best friend and Spider-Man's "guy in the chair."
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The friendship between Ned and Peter functions as the heart of Holland's Spider-Man trilogy, making the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home especially tragic. Near the end of the 2021 film, Peter realizes that the only way he can fix everything is by having Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) cast a spell that makes everyone – even his closest friend Ned and girlfriend MJ (Zendaya) – forget who he is. With Ned's memory of his former pal wiped, it's uncertain if he will return for a fourth MCU Spider-Man movie, but plenty of teases in Spider-Man: No Way Home suggested that the character could return.
In a conversation with Collider, Batalon spoke about Ned's potential return to the MCU. Though he admitted that his hopes aren't high for Ned to come back in a future movie, he clarified that "actors are the last people to know," meaning there could be plans for the character's return that he doesn't know about yet. Most importantly, Batalon said that he is open to returning as Ned, which leaves the door open for a possible comeback. Check out what he had to say below:
“I feel like actors are the last people to know. I think that people assume that actors are always hiding secrets. I promise you, we don't know anything. But again, if it's the right place, at the right time, with the right group of people that we've been with, I would say, why not? But other than that, whatever happens, happens. Really, those decisions are up to the big bosses, the people who sign the checks. We're open to the idea, but we're not hoping for it.”
How Ned Leeds Could Return In MCU Spider-Man 4
With Marvel shaking things up in terms of what long-time MCU fans expect, the potential for Ned's return is limitless. One direction the MCU could take is setting Ned up as a sorcerer or magic user, given the teases about his family history and latent powers in Spider-Man: No Way Home. With the franchise's move into multiversal storytelling, a variant of the Ned audiences know and love could appear in the franchise, perhaps as the villain Hobgoblin in a nod to his comics route. Facing a villainous version of his former best friend, even if he were a variant of the MCU's Ned, would be among Peter's most tragic storylines yet and make for a rich Spider-Man 4 plot.
After Ned's open-ended departure in Spider-Man: No Way Home, nothing about his MCU future seems set in stone. However, that film saw Peter completely alone in life and starting from scratch, so it's possible that the characters once close to him will undergo major changes if they appear in the MCU's next Spider-Man film. Whether Ned ends up training with Strange and Wong (Benedict Wong) to hone his magical gifts, running into Peter around town, or taking up a villainous role, Batalon's comments indicate that he'll be one of the last to know.