Edward Leeds (Earth-199999)

History

Edward Leeds, or simply Ned, was an ordinary high school student and the only friend of Peter Parker. It's unknown for how long the two teens have known each other. Ned shared Peter's love for Star Wars and Lego, but Peter's secret double life as the hero Spider-Man severely reduced the amount of time they could spend together.^[1]

Ned discovered Peter's secret when one day Peter returned home from another day as Spider-Man, only to find Ned waiting for him in his room. Ned promised to keep Peter's superhero life a secret and became his confidant. Using his computer skills, Ned was able to give Peter access to all the abilities of the Spider-Man suit that Tony Stark had built for him. Ned also expressed his desire to become Peter's "guy in the chair", who would assist him during missions with information.

Ned helped Peter analyze the alien power core of a weapon confiscated from Herman Schultz and Jackson Brice, and accompanied Peter when he went to Washington DC with the school's decathlon team to try and stop the criminal Adrian Toomes from robbing a D.O.D.C truck. Ned accidentally endangered the lives of himself and several of his fellow students when he took the power core with him to the Washington Monument, unaware that the core was in fact an unstable Chitauri grenade. The grenade exploded in the elevator, but Peter was able to save everyone.

Ned got to live out his dream of being Peter's "guy in the chair" when Peter discovered Toomes was about to hijack a D.O.D.C. plane transporting weapons from Avengers Tower to the team's new headquarters, but had to rely on just his old homemade Spider-Man costume again since Stark had confiscated the high-tech suit following an incident with the Staten Island Ferry. Ned first helped Peter defeat Schultz by webbing up the thug with a web shooter Peter had dropped during the fight. He then used the school computers to track down Peter's phone, which Peter had left behind in Toomes's car, to find out the location of Toomes's lair. Ned was caught in the act by their teacher Ms. Warren, and tried to cover for Peter by claiming to be watching pornography.

Days after the dance, Ned was present when MJ became the new academic decathlon leader. Sometime later, he was interviewed by the school news team on Spider-Man's identity and claimed that it will always be a mystery.^[1]

Months later, Ned was on a field trip to MOMA and listening to music when Peter tapped him on the shoulder and asked him to cause a distraction. Ned immediately noticed an alien space ship descending upon Greenwich Village and screamed that an invasion was occurring, attracting the other students' attention and allowing Peter to make his escape. ^[2] Ned was among the half of the universe that was slain by Thanos when the Mad Titan snapped his fingers. Five years later, Bruce Banner used the Infinity Stones to resurrect the fallen, including Ned and Peter.^[3] With Midtown High restarting the school year to accommodate the resurrected students,^[4] Ned joyfully reunited with Peter on the first day of school.^[3]

Towards the end of the year, Ned, Peter, and several of their classmates attended a field trip to Europe. Intent on becoming a bachelor but wanting to help Peter woo MJ, Ned faked Peter having an allergy, but the plan want awry, ending with Peter next to his teachers and Ned next to MJ's friend Betty Brant. Despite this, Ned and Betty began a relationship.

At the vacation's first destination, Venice, Italy, the class was interrupted by the presence of the Water Elemental. Peter, who had left his Spider-Man suit at the class's hotel, had Ned and the others evacuate while he tried to fend off the creature, which was ultimately defeated by a newcomer, Mysterio. That night, Ned was tranquilized by "Nick Fury," who soon filled Peter in on the situation. Peter tried to back out of "Fury's" plans, but "Fury" discretely had his agent Dmitri drive the class to Prague, where the Fire Elemental was scheduled to attack. For his part, Ned was excited that S.H.I.E.L.D. had hijacked Peter's vacation.

To stall for time before helping Mysterio fight the Fire Elemental, Peter had the class attend an opera. MJ, suspicious of Peter's activity, left the opera house, with Ned and Betty assuming that she had left for the Carnival of Lights and following her. When the Fire Elemental attacked, Ned and Betty were caught in the crossfire. Peter donned a black costume to hide his identity as Spider-Man while fighting, which Ned claimed to Betty was a "European knockoff" of Spider-Man named Night Monkey. Eventually, the Fire Elemental was subdued, and Peter rescued Ned and Betty.

However, Mysterio turned out to be a con artist who was using drones and special effects to appear as a hero. Having learned that Ned and MJ knew of Peter's secret, Mysterio guided the class to London, where his final illusion, a hybrid of all four Elementals, would kill them. While Spider-Man fought Mysterio, Ned and the others were saved by Peter's friend Happy Hogan. One of Mysterio's drones chased Ned and the group into the Tower of London, but Spider-Man regained control of the drones, saving them. With the threat ended, Ned returned to New York, but not before breaking up with Betty.^[4]

Powers and Abilities

Abilities

• Hacking: Ned was able to hack the internal computer of the Spider-Man suit made by Tony Stark and remove the "Training Wheels Protocol."^[1]

Notes

• Jacob Batalon portrays Ned Leeds in the films Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home.^[5]
• This interpretation of Ned Leeds is extremely similar to Ganke Lee, Miles Morales' best friend, down to sharing a similar physical appearance, personality and computer skills. Ganke Lee's co-creator Brian Michael Bendis adressed these similarities, expressing that he didn't know if Ned was meant to have been inspired by Ganke.^[6]

Links and References

• 7 Appearances of Edward Leeds (Earth-199999)
• Minor Appearances of Edward Leeds (Earth-199999)
• Media Edward Leeds (Earth-199999) was Mentioned in
• 1 Images featuring Edward Leeds (Earth-199999)
• Quotations by or about Edward Leeds (Earth-199999)
• Character Gallery: Edward Leeds (Earth-199999)

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Footnotes