This past summer, we learned that Hawaiian actor Jacob Batalon was playing an altered version of Ned Leeds in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’. In the comics, Peter Parker didn’t encounter Ned until he was already a young adult and the two were rivals for the affections of J. Jonah Jameson’s secretary Betty Brant. In the 1980s, Ned became the first person to adopt the criminal guise of The Hobgoblin.
Obviously, since in ‘Homecoming’ both Peter and Ned are still in high school, Ned’s persona will have to be tweaked.
Batalon appeared on KHON2 News in his home state of Hawaii and offered some information about his role and about the film itself:
“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.”
In addition to Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Batalon’s Ned will attend class with Tony Revolori is playing Flash Thompson, Angourie Rice is Betty Brant (or possibly Brandt) and Laura Harrier is Liz Allen (likewise, possibly Allan). And then there’s Michelle played by Zendaya, but all signs point to her actually playing Mary Jane Watson.
Also, in smaller supporting roles are Michael Barbieri, Abraham Attah, Tiffany Espensen as Cindy, and J.J. Totah.
As for Batalon, he has completed filming on a horror movie called ‘North Woods’, which doesn’t to appear to have been released.
During his interview on KHON, Batalon discussed more about his career and working on ‘Homecoming’. If you’d like to hear more, you can watch the full clip below:
Directed by Jon Watts, ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ starring Tom Holland, Zendaya, Tony Revolori, Jacob Batalon, Laura Harrier, Michael Keaton, Marisa Tomei, Martin Starr, Logan Marshall-Green, Donald Glover, Hannibal Buress, Kenneth Choi, Angourie Rice, Tyron Woodley, and Robert Downey Jr. hits theaters on July 7, 2017.
