In Marvel Comics, Peter Parker’s best friend Ned Leeds was brainwashed into becoming a villain after the real Hobgoblin, Roderick Kingsley, manipulated him using mind control. Now that Ned and MJ’s memories of Spider-Man were entirely wiped out, this could easily set up Ned as the potential Spider-Man villain in the next film.
Speaking about his upcoming role as Syfy’s Reginald the Vampire with Esquire, Batalon was asked if he would ever consider playing a villain in the future. Amazingly, Batalon seemingly confirmed that a villain role is now “in the works,” although he didn’t really reveal if it’s for Spider-Man 4. Check out his full quote below:
Tobey Maguire’s version of the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man saw his best friend, Harry Osborn (James Franco) turn into a villain to avenge his father, Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), while Andrew Garfield’s version in The Amazing Spider-Man also witnessed his best friend with the same name (Dane DeHaan) donning the Green Goblin mantle in a desperate attempt to cure his illness. Meaning to say, it’s no surprise if Batalon’s Ned suffers the same destiny, considering how No Way Home explained that each version of the Spider-Mans is parallel to each other, and will inevitably go through the same fate.
There’s no denying that Ned is one of the many fan-beloved characters of the MCU that even Benedict Wong wants to crossover with him for a Disney+ project. Nonetheless, we’ll definitely see more of Batalon in the MCU, be it as Peter Parker’s beloved best friend, Ned, or as the infamous Spider-Man villain, Hobgoblin. Spider-Man: No Way Home is streaming on Disney+.
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