Relationship Spotlight: Ned & Peter (Spider-Man)

If you’ve been around on Marvelous Wednesdays, then you probably know that I pretty much love superheroes and their (usually non-powered) best friends.  Most of the movie friendships I like eventually come around to the best friend becoming a hero in their own right – Rhodey as War Machine, Sam as Falcon, Bucky as the Winter Soldier – and while I don’t know if that will ever be Ned, he makes one hell of a Guy in the Chair (a few Peter-Ned-related spoilers.)

Peter and Ned’s delightful geek bond predates Spider-Man:  Homecoming.  When the movie starts, they’re already best friends, although it hasn’t escaped Ned’s notice that Peter has been skipping out lately on their favorite pasttimes, such as Lego Death Star construction.  Quickly, though, the film moves onto a bigger and better dynamic with these two when Ned catches Peter climbing in his bedroom window while wearing the suit (and crawling on the ceiling!)  The game is up, and Ned couldn’t be more thrilled.

This is everything that a huge nerd finding out his best friend is a bona fide superhero would be.  Once Peter’s lame attempts at a denial are out of the way, Ned considers it open season on the questions, from quizzing Peter on his powers to asking what the Avengers are like in person.  He’s bursting to tell people but very begrudgingly abides by Peter’s insistence that they keep it a secret, although he can’t help letting a few hints slip of the “Peter ‘knows’ Spider-Man!” variety.

Peter clearly loves being Spider-Man, but the film shows that it’s also a bit of a lonely gig for the energetic teenager, and he can’t really be mad about finally getting a chance to share it with someone other than Happy’s voicemail.  Through Ned, Peter has someone to talk to about this, at times with amusing bravado (claiming that he’s “basically” an Avenger) and at others with more sincerity (itching over how he can prove himself to Tony.)

Now in on the secret, Ned is both a good and bad influence on Peter’s superhero activities.  The best-friend role is often the voice of reason, either worrying over the hero’s safety or trying to convince them to do the right thing when they want to refuse the call.  We get some of that with Ned, like when he balks at the idea of hacking Peter’s suit to get around the limits Tony built into it, but we also get the two of them geeking out over the prospect of bad guys with genuine evil lairs and Ned pushing the idea of Peter using his “friendship” with Spider-Man to get in good with girls.

And ultimately, Ned is really helpful.  Peter tries to shrug this off at first, since he’s pretty determined to demonstrate how singlehandedly he can manage, but 1) Peter couldn’t keep Ned away from this stuff if he tried, and 2) Peter realizes he can’t do everything by himself.  The movie’s climactic battle shows Ned fulfilling his dream of being the hero’s number-two man, the “guy in the chair” monitoring screens and giving the hero the vital intel he nees to get the job done.  I like that, that Ned’s big goal isn’t to be the hero but to help the hero (even if he does get an awesome moment with a web shooter!)