Jacob Batalon Is Playing Ned Leeds in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’

While filming on Spider-Man: Homecoming has wrapped, not a whole lot is known about the characters or storyline. Some casting news has come out recently, like Michael Keaton playing Vulture, but so far most of the details about the plot are being kept under wraps. Fans are interested to see which familiar characters form the comics will be making an appearance in the movie, and today we got some more confirmation that one of these is going to be Peter Parker’s bestie Ned Leeds.

In an interview with KHON2 News, Jacob Batalon confirmed that he would indeed be playing Leeds, who has appeared before in the Spider-Man comics in a few different iterations. Most have him as a rival who also works at the Daily Bugle, and in one storyline he eventually became a version of the Hobgoblin. For Homecoming, it sounds like Leeds will stick to being Parker’s buddy for now, but since Tom Holland has signed on for two more sequels (and two more MCU films), that storyline could eventually take shape. Batalon described his character to KHON2 News:

Well, Ned Leeds; I play Peter Parker’s best friend in the film. We are both in high school; we are about fifteen. And it’s just 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’s just stuck with this really cool life that he can’t tell anyone about.

You can watch the rest of the interview here:

Spider-Man: Homecoming also stars Zendaya, Robert Downey Jr., Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, and Kenneth Choi, and hits theaters July 7, 2017.