In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Ned Leeds' memories of Peter Parker were wiped away along with the rest of the world. If and when Spider-Man 4 happens, we'd bet on him somehow remembering his best friend, but could one of the consequences of the web-slinger's actions be sending Ned down a villainous route?
That's something fans have expressed an interest in, especially as the character's comic book counterpart suited up as Hobgoblin for a time.
Many fans seem to forget that Ned was brainwashed into taking on that role, with Roderick Kingsley (and Jason Macendale, to some extent) later revealed as the mastermind behind the plan. Still, there's lots there for Marvel Studios to take inspiration from, and actor Jacob Batalon is continuing to tease his potential villainous MCU future on social media.
As you can see below, the actor recently came across a Hobgoblin action figure - based on the villain's appearance in Spider-Man: The Animated Series where he was played by Mark Hamill - and shared a photo on Instagram. A Spider-Man 4 script doesn't even exist at this stage, so this obviously isn't Batalon confirming anything.
Spider-Man: No Way Home teased Ned's future with his repeated promises that he would never turn on Peter and some very suspect-looking weapons in his grandmother's home. Throw in his aptitude for magic, and there's always a chance Marvel Studios heads down the Demogoblin route.
We'll have to wait and see, but six months on from that threequel's release and we still have no official word on what comes next for this franchise. Filmmaker Jon Watts has dropped out of helming Fantastic Four, but has a Star Wars series to develop - Skeleton Crew - before potentially heading back to the MCU for another adventure with Spider-Man.
Would you like to see Ned Leeds become Hobgoblin in the MCU?
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