One Spider-Man: Homecoming Star Is Down To Play Hobgoblin

Marvel Studios briefly debuted their signature take on Spider-Man in last summer’s Captain America: Civil War, expanding on the wallcrawler’s personal life with the young hero’s hit solo movie, Spider-Man: Homecoming. The John Hughes-inspired teen comedy introduced unassuming teenager Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) best friend and confidant Ned (Jacob Batalon), fanboy tech guru and sometimes sidekick to the webhead — and possible future enemy, with Batalon sharing his openness on turning to the dark side.

“I could see you in this outfit,” said Collider’s John Schnepp, presenting Batalon with a comic book page highlighting the Hobgoblin attacking Spider-Man. “Man, that is so badass,” said Batalon. “Oh man, I would love to beat Tom up. I mean, I do it in real life, so it’s cool.”

In the comics, Ned Leeds was Peter Parker’s colleague at the Daily Bugle —a field reporter who eventually married Peter’s one-time love, Betty Brant. Brainwashed into donning the maniacal guise of the supervillain known as the Hobgoblin, Ned found himself battling Peter Parker’s superhero alter ego Spider-Man. Ned was later tragically murdered by assassins, his death arranged by the real Hobgoblin, Roderick Kingsley.

Longtime fans will know Harry Osborn was Peter Parker’s best friend in the original source material, with the tormented Osborn eventually becoming Spider-Man’s worst enemy, the Green Goblin — a plot thread already explored in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and Marc Webb’s Spider-Man duology. Could Marvel Studios rework the “best friend gone bad” story and turn Peter Parker’s “guy in the chair” against him?

Spider-Man will return in Avengers: Infinity War before we head back to Queens with the currently untitled Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel, set for a July 5th, 2019 release.