Jacob Batalon

Across a table from Tom Holland in Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026), Jacob Batalon gives a crowded film its warmest conversation. Ned Leeds appears sparingly, and we would happily have exchanged some of the guest stars for more of his company. We were touched by the simple sight of Ned and Peter taking time to talk, amid so much competing spectacle.

His first major role, as Peter Parker’s best friend in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), established the enthusiastic sidekick who remains his most familiar part. That job can leave an actor waiting for the next opportunity to look impressed, but Batalon’s rapport with Holland gives the friendship something to sustain it between jokes. In Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), he and Zendaya make Peter’s friends worth paying attention to when nobody is fighting. Director Jon Watts allows those relationships space, despite the demands of a much larger cast. We recommend the film with reservations about its reliance on earlier instalments; Batalon helps make the people matter even when the reunion threatens to crowd them out.

Taking the lead in the television series Reginald the Vampire (2022–2024) was a useful change of position for an actor so readily cast as somebody else’s friend. Its outsider protagonist gave him a place at the centre of a comedy-drama, rather than another supporting berth. Appearances in Shortcomings (2023), Tarot (2024) and Novocaine (2025) also take him beyond Ned. We are interested in that change, though our strongest recommendation still rests on his scenes with Holland.

The risk is being asked to repeat the friendliness until there is nothing left for him to play. His comic timing makes him an obvious choice for a best-friend role, but the table scene gives us reason to want more sustained attention paid to him. We would not ask him to discard that warmth simply to prove he can be different. A part with a few jokes and little else would be a waste.