Midtown High's on-air personality
Every school has someone like Betty: organized, upbeat and completely serious about the morning announcements. Together with her co-host Jason, she runs the student news show that frames several moments in the films, cheerfully reporting on assemblies, gym class and the occasional supervillain attack as if they were all equally important.
That broadcast is a clever device. The MCU uses it to show how ordinary teenagers see the chaos around them, and the joke usually lands because Betty takes it all so earnestly.
Comic readers will recognize the name. In the original stories, Betty Brant works at the Daily Bugle and is closely tied to Peter's life there. The films turn her into a student journalist instead, which keeps the nod while fitting the high school setting.
Betty's films in order
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017, recommended)
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019, recommended)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021, essential)
She has no appearances outside the Spider-Man trilogy, and the three films run in the same order in story time and release.
Her best scenes
In Homecoming she is part of the background of Peter's school life, a familiar face in class and on the news desk while Peter sneaks off to play superhero.
Far From Home gives her the most to do. The film opens with her school news tribute to those lost in the events of the Avengers films, a sequence that is both sincere and very funny thanks to its choice of music. On the class trip to Europe she starts a sudden summer romance with Ned Leeds. The two become impossible to separate for a while, which leaves Peter without his best friend just when he needs him.
In No Way Home she returns as the class deals with Peter's very public troubles. Her role is small, so think of it as a welcome cameo rather than a major arc.
Friends and classmates
Betty's world is the friend group around Peter Parker. Her fling with Ned Leeds is the most memorable thing she does, and the way it plays out is pure teenage comedy. She shares classes and trips with MJ, Michelle Jones.
Angourie Rice as Betty
Australian actor Angourie Rice plays Betty in all three films. She has excellent comic timing, especially in the news segments, where Betty's forced professionalism keeps cracking. Rice manages to make a minor role feel like a real person with her own little storyline.
Beyond Marvel, she broke out opposite Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe in The Nice Guys, played Kate Winslet's daughter in Mare of Easttown and took the lead role of Cady Heron in the musical film version of Mean Girls.
How to watch for Betty
Just watch the trilogy in order. Homecoming introduces her, Far From Home is where she shines, and No Way Home wraps up the school chapter of Peter's life. For Betty fans, Far From Home is the one to rewatch.