4) Ned Leeds
Move over, Harry Osborn – Peter’s got a new best bud. In Homecoming, it looks like Peter will be inseparable from his friend Ned Leeds, as played by Jacob Batalon. The pair share a love for Liz Allen and Ned even learns Peter’s secret.
First up, this is a completely different Ned Leeds from the one in the comics. On the page, Ned Leeds is an older Daily Bugle reporter, known for being in a relationship with Betty Brant and for later becoming the Hobgoblin. Once again, there is some similarity with Spectacular Spider-Man here, as that series also cast Ned as an Asian-American. Though he was renamed Ned Lee.
In all but name, Batalon is playing Ganke Lee, who is the best friend of Miles Morales’ version of Spider-Man in the Ultimate continuity. Apart from Batalon’s striking physical resemblance to Ganke, the two characters also look to share the same function in the story. Ganke also found out Miles’ secret early on and became the only person Miles could confide in about his secret life. Peter has never really had a figure like this in the comics, so it should be interesting to see how this is explored in the movie.