Spider-Man: No Way Home: 3 Signs That Ned Leeds Will Turn Evil

At the beginning of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Ned tells Dr. Strange that his grandmother always thought he had magic. It seems like a throwaway comment until later on, when he's able to open a portal using Strange's Sling Ring. And he doesn't just open one portal, he opens multiple. In the big battle scene, when Ned opens a portal that brings Strange back from another dimension, the wizard even comments on Ned's magical powers. The Ned from the comics doesn't quite have abilities like this, but he does team up with Baron Mordo, a known magic user (and Strange's nemesis). With Dr. Strange seeming to be headed for combat in his upcoming movie, we're curious if that storyline will come into play at all.

Obviously, each universe in the multiverse has a bit of a different story. Each Peter Parker has a slightly different family and friends. While Tom Holland's Peter has Ned as a best friend, the others don't. In fact, Tobey Maguire's Peter tells Ned in this movie that his best friend betrayed him and died in his arms, his best friend being Harry Osborn (James Franco), who became Green Goblin after his father, Norman, died. Ned is visibly shaken by this statement and tells his Peter that he'll never turn into a supervillain and try to kill him.

Here's the thing, though. Even though Ned promises Peter that he'll never turn on him, he currently has no idea who he is. Peter asks Dr. Strange to erase his existence from everyone's memories so he can go back to anonymity and so he can stop hurting people with his life as Spider-Man. This, unfortunately, means that MJ and Ned no longer know who he is. If Ned has no allegiance to Peter Parker and Spider-Man, it'll be much easier for him to be swayed to become Hobgoblin in an upcoming story.