During Sony’s presentation at CinemaCon on Monday, some new footage was shown of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. According to Tom Holland, who presented the footage via hologram, it was from early in the film, likely implying that it isn’t too spoilery. Yet its description does have me worried that the movie might be pursuing one comic plotline that would be a total mistake for this film series.
The footage featured Peter Parker still dealing with the effects of the Dr. Strange spell that made everyone forget he existed (though they all still know about Spider-Man). Presumably missing his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon), Peter follows him to a college party and makes his way into Ned’s room. There, he discovers a bulletin board dedicated to news stories of Spider-Man. When Ned discovers Peter looking at the board, he tells him he also created a “Spider-Tracker” app logging the sightings of Spider-Man. He’s also ascertained that Spider-Man is from Queens, and he presents to Peter his top two suspects: their former science teacher, Roger Harrington (Martin Starr), and their former classmate Flash Thompson (Tony Revolori).
Obviously, neither of those guys is Spider-Man, but Ned’s not too far away from the truth, even if Dr. Strange’s spell erased his memory of Peter Parker. Ned also tells Peter that he’s doing this “not to unmask him to the world or anything. Just to know, and hopefully thank him face to face.” While that sounds innocent enough, it does make me worry that they’re plotting some eventual villainous turn for Ned, which is what happened with the character’s comic book namesake.
In the comics, Ned Leeds began as a reporter at The Daily Bugle and Peter Parker’s competition for the affections of Betty Brant. Ned eventually wins Betty’s interest and he becomes friends with Peter, but he makes a villainous turn when he gets brainwashed by the Hobgoblin. Later on, Ned actually takes on the mantle of the cackling villain. He also trains under Dr. Strange’s villain Baron Mordo and gains magical abilities. This seems to have been hinted at in the previous Spider-Man movie, when Ned uses Dr. Strange’s portal-creating Sling Ring with ease. That was played off for laughs in that film, but combining his natural magical abilities with a now obsessive following of Spider-Man only feels like the film series is inching the character closer to becoming the Hobgoblin.
Some people want this, including Batalon himself, who has publicly expressed interest in Ned becoming a villain, just like he does in the comics.
Except, the MCU’s take on Ned Leeds has very little to do with his comic book counterpart. Besides the magical link and a brief romance with Betty Brandt in Spider-Man: Far From Home, the MCU’s Ned is much more like Ganke Lee, the best friend of Miles Morales in the comics. Like Ned, Ganke is a loyal, techno-savvy dude who often operates as Miles’ “Guy in the Chair.” Ganke even looks a good deal like Batalon, being heavy-set and of Asian descent.
In comic books, it’s usually inevitable that people who are in a hero’s life as friends or romantic interests will eventually become a superhero or a supervillain themselves. Ganke, in contrast, is just a regular guy, and his BFF relationship with Miles is what people like about him.
The exact same is true for Ned Leeds in the MCU. We like the guy because he’s funny, he’s a good friend to Peter, and he gets to nerd out about all the Spider-Man stuff going on in Peter’s life. In other words, Ned is us, and if the movies contrive some villainous turn for him just because a character from the comics that he barely resembles became a villain, I think the appeal of the character will forever be lost.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be released on July 31.
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