Jacob Batalon, who starred as Ned Leeds in the MCU‘s three Spider-Man movies, is currently on a press tour for his new movie Tarot. So naturally everyone stayed on topic and asked him about that. Just kidding! They asked him about his future as Ned in the MCU. And in a bit of breaking news here, he gave several variations on the same non-commital quote regarding what could happen next for Ned.
In an exclusive interview with ComicBook.com, Batalon blew the story wide open commenting on whether he’d return as Ned in the franchise. “I honestly don’t know. I don’t know what any future holds for any of them in that world,” Batalon said. “I just feel like if things happen, they happen. I hope so. I definitely hope so. It’s sad that he has no friends anymore.”
In case you forgot harder than Peter Parker (Tom Holland), at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home our hero had successfully sealed a bunch of cracks in the multiverse by making everyone forget Peter Parker exists. That meant his girlfriend MJ (Zendaya), as well as his best friend Ned. In a heartbreaking scene toward the end of the movie, Peter watches his friends happily chat in a donut shop while he looks on.
So yeah, that explains the whole “no friends” thing. If there is a Spider-Man 4, which has yet to officially be announced, most likely Peter will have some friends, though it’s not known if those friends will be MJ and Ned; or new, better friends.
Over at The Direct, there’s another exclusive quote from Batalon, stating, “I mean, I would hope so. I think just with anyone who’s worked for Marvel knows that you kind of just like wait for a call. Maybe it does [happen], maybe it doesn’t. But it’s something that you definitely can’t hope and wait for. You just like, you will wake up one day to a call at like 4:30 in the morning for no reason. You know, so maybe.”
Continuing, Batalon added when asked if he’s discussed Spider-Man 4 with Tom Holland, “I mean, again, there’s some things that could possibly happen, but I’m honestly not sure. I feel like we talk about all kinds of things, but I mean, maybe.”
Things could possibly happen? Huge, if true.
Could Ned Become The Hobgoblin, Or Get Trained In Magic By Wong? Sure, Why Not?
There’s also the possibility that if Ned does return, he could go the villain route. In the comics, Leeds becomes the Hobgoblin, a new, deadlier iteration of the Green Goblin. Batalon really broke the internet by responding to ComicBook.com on that possibly, stating, “Who knows? Maybe. Hopefully.”
Screenrant at least got the most substantial quote of the press tour.
“Yes, I would love to,” Jacob Batalon, an actor who likes having jobs, said when asked if he’d like to return. “I would definitely love to be a part of something special again, for sure. I think a specific avenue that I haven’t really like spoken on in a while [is that] me and Benny Wong wanted to do a whole ‘Wong teaches Ned to be a magic user’ thing. But I think other than that, whatever happens happens. I’m sure everyone you’ve spoken to from superhero movies knows you just randomly get a call one day, you know what I mean? You don’t really plan for it.”
I honestly think the absolute biggest revelation out of all of these interviews is that Batalon calls Benedict Wong “Benny Wong.” But I digress.
All joking aside, I get the need to snag these quotes. Heck, I personally can’t throw stones (though this whole piece is nothing but stone throwin’) because I’ve asked questions like this before. It’s a frustrating part of the job because there’s no real news here… But it is due diligence to ask about these things anyway. Of course Batalon would like to be in Spider-Man 4. Of course, he’s not gonna be like “Oh, nobody has asked me about that, yes, we are doing Spider-Man 4 and I’m returning to the role of Ned Leeds, who is now a magic-powered Hobgoblin.”
But you do it anyway. It’s a frustrating, annoying part of the job because it powers multiple headlines on multiple sites… And drives clicks to said sites, which is the goal. I wish that wasn’t the way of the world — but then, you clicked here and are reading this, aren’t you?
Tarot hits theaters on May 3, 2024.
