The Most Epic Fantasy and Sci-Fi Website

Jacob Batalon Responds to Spider-Man 4 Hobgoblin Villain Rumors


Last year's Spider-Man: No Way Home still sits at the top of the mind of die-hard Marvel fans. The three-generation reunion of Peter Parker that brought back Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield together with the current Spider-Man, Tom Holland, was a gigantic milestone for the MCU. While No Way Home sets up an immense Spider-Man universe in the future franchise, fans are still pondering what to expect for MCU's Spider-Man 4.

It's hard to distinguish yet what will happen to Holland's Peter Parker after the events of No Way Home, where he was forgotten by the whole world including his best friends, MJ and Ned. This caused speculations that Ned might play a more prominent role for Spider-Man 4, and could play Hobgoblin, one of Spider-Man's villains in the comics.

click to enlarge

In an interview with Variety, the MCU Holland's Spider-Man trilogy star Jacob Batalon sat down to discuss his character, while also taking the time to address the Hobgoblin villain rumors.

When asked if he is going to be a villain in the fourth Spider-Man film, Batalon dodges the question by saying, "From all my years of working for Marvel, I feel like I’ve learned to just not say anything. I can’t really speak on things and then say something that might actually be true and then I ruin something, you know what I mean?"

Batalon continued by addressing the pressure of being included in one of the biggest movies of all time, "It taught me a lot about fame and taught me a lot about experiencing the world and what it really means to be someone who people look up to, in a sense. I’ve learned that the most successful people in the world are not fucking assholes and, most importantly, it’s just sort of how I carry myself. I mean, fame is cool, fame is great, but it’s very fickle. More power to you if that’s all you want, but a lot of people, including myself – I feel like I’m searching for longevity."

The star concluded, "I think it was just the scariness of ruining such a great surprise. We all understood it was such a momentous thing to happen in like, not just a superhero movie, but in cinema. To actually do something that crazy is wild. We just wanted to make sure that we kept it as [quiet] as possible so everyone could genuinely be so surprised and love it."

We're certain that Ned will have more appearances in the future of the MCU as Peter Parker's loyal best friend. But let's admit it, it's going to be an interesting yet heart-wrenching scene if Ned goes face to face against his best friend, Peter Parker. However, for Ned's future as Hobgoblin, nothing is yet confirmed by Marvel. Batalon dodging the question about his Hobgoblin role hints that the MCU is developing something with his character rather than just Spider-Man's loyal friend.

Now that Sony is confirmed to be crafting a bigger Spider-Verse, introducing new characters that include the likes of Dakota Johnson's Madame Web, Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Kraven: The Hunter, Jared Leto's Morbius, and of course, Tom Hardy's Venom which seeded a post-credits scene that clearly hints at a future crossover with Tom Holland's Spider-Man. Jacob Batalon might make the cut of the list of Spider-Man villains and could play a more prominent role like Hobgoblin in future Spider-Man films.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is now available for digital purchase.

Also Read: Doctor Strange 2: New Report Offers Update on Tom Cruise's Rumored Cameo

For more articles like this, take a look at our Marvel and Geek Culture page.