Who Ned Leeds is
Ned is the kind of best friend everyone should have. He builds giant LEGO sets, talks a mile a minute and is loyal to a fault. In Homecoming he walks into Peter's bedroom at exactly the wrong moment, sees his friend clinging to the ceiling in costume, and drops the LEGO Death Star he was carrying. From that second on, his life is about keeping the secret and wanting to help.
His dream role is "the guy in the chair," the hacker who sits at a computer and talks the hero through a mission. He gets to live that dream more than once, usually with more enthusiasm than skill.
Ned's movies in order
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017, film, recommended)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018, film, essential): a brief scene on the school bus
- Avengers: Endgame (2019, film, essential): a short reunion with Peter
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019, film, recommended)
- Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021, film, essential)
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026, film, recommended)
Homecoming, Far From Home and No Way Home form one trilogy about Peter growing up. Brand New Day is the next chapter, and we keep its story details off this page.
How the friendship changes
In Homecoming, Ned turns Peter's secret into a shared adventure. He hacks into the Stark suit, digs through its settings and finds features Tony Stark never meant Peter to unlock. He also covers for Peter at school, which gets more awkward every week.
Far From Home is the lighter entry for him. On the class trip to Europe, Ned starts a whirlwind holiday romance with Betty Brant, and their relationship is one of the film's running jokes. When things go wrong, he still ends up in the thick of it.
No Way Home asks the most of him. He gets pulled into the multiverse problem directly, discovers a surprising talent of his own, and even meets people he never expected to meet. The ending puts real strain on the friendship, and it is the most emotional moment Ned has had on screen. Go in fresh if you can.
Peter, MJ and the rest of Midtown
Ned's whole story orbits Spider-Man (Peter Parker). He and MJ (Michelle Jones) start as classmates who barely talk and end up as the two people Peter trusts most. Aunt May treats him like a second son, and Happy Hogan tolerates him with visible patience. Flash Thompson keeps mocking him, and Betty Brant gives him his first romance.
Jacob Batalon as Ned
Batalon was a young, little-known actor when he was cast, and his natural comic timing quickly became one of the best things about these films. He makes Ned funny without turning him into a joke: when Ned is scared, you believe it, and when he is proud of Peter, you feel that too. His chemistry with Tom Holland is the core of the trilogy's humor. Outside the MCU, he led the comedy-horror series Reginald the Vampire, playing a newly turned vampire who has to figure out his strange new life.
How to watch Ned's story
Watch the films in release order. Homecoming sets up the friendship, Far From Home builds on it, and No Way Home pays it off. The Spider-Man films lean on the wider MCU, so Captain America: Civil War before Homecoming and Avengers: Endgame before Far From Home will give you the right context. Then watch Brand New Day to see where things stand. If you are filling in the rest of the timeline as you go, our Marvel movies in order guide shows every film around these four.