Rumors have been running rampant regarding who will be joining the cast of the third Spider-Man film from Jon Watts. Stars such as Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Jacob Batalon are all set to return for the currently untitled sequel to Spider-Man: Far From Home. Plus, Benedict Cumberbatch will reprise his role as Dr. Stephen Strange. However, things started to get wild when Jamie Foxx was added to the cast to reprise his Amazing Spider-Man 2 role of Max Dillon AKA Electro.
Once Foxx was announced, other reports surfaced saying that more ghosts of Spidey’s past would be involved with the web-slinger’s latest live action feature. Not only have other villains like Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus been in the conversation for a possible return, but Spider-Men Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield seemed to be in the mix as well.
Now, it appears that a new casting report hints at another character joining the wall-crawler on the big screen. While this isn’t exactly news of another superior foe joining the fray, it’s still exciting for fans of Batalon’s Ned Leeds.
According to The Direct, Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios are currently on the lookout for a Filipina actress in her 50s-80s to play a member of Ned’s family. It’s unclear whether this part will be a grandmother, aunt, or older cousin, but it certainly means that we’ll finally be getting a little more backstory for Peter Parker’s best friend/guy in the chair. The report also speculates that this relative will help Peter, MJ, and Ned while they’re on the run due to the events of the last film that saw J. Jonah Jameson unmask the young hero with the help of Mysterio’s doctored footage. Concrete details on the film’s storyline from Chris McKenna and Erick Sommers are currently under wraps, but this theory definitely makes sense.
And with Ned’s family getting a spotlight, just how far will the MCU take the fan favorite character? In the comics, Leeds donned the costume of the Hobgoblin and ultimately perished. Batalon himself even mentioned previously that he would be interested in exploring that avenue (as long as his character doesn’t die). Again, time will tell, but it’s fun to postulate for now.
What do you think about the latest casting rumors for the follow-up to Spider-Man: Far From Home? Are you excited to learn more about Ned Leeds in the MCU? And how much do you wanna bet that this unknown member of the Leeds family turns out to be a nurse? Sound off in the comments.
