Spider-Man Sidekick Jacob Batalon On Being Chill When Peter Parker Was (Briefly) Out Of The MCU

Just before the F1 race last week, actor Jacob Batalon was in town to promote Spider-Man: Far From Home, where he plays the eponymous web-slinger (Tom Holland) adorkable sidekick/BFF Ned Leeds.

It was the Filipino-American's second tour in less than three months on the road plugging the movie, first for its theatrical run, and now its home media release. (He was in Singapore two years to promote Spider-Man: Homecoming.)

Back to school: Jacob and Tom Holland in a scene from 'Spider-Man: Homecoming'.

Batalon, 22, was more relaxed this time around; he didn’t have to worry about dropping spoilers in interviews (that was Holland’s job). All he had to concern himself with was fielding questions about his experiences working on the Marvel movies, and, er, Spider-Man’s split from Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In person, Batalon is as friendly, easy-going and playful as his on-screen alter-ego; it isn’t difficult to become fast pals with him. When Batalon dropped by the Mediacorp campus, 8 DAYS not only sat in n his interview with Daniel Martin on CNA 938 (see the video below), we also got him for a quick chat and a photo shoot.

Post-script: A week after his visit, Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures announced they’re back in the Spider-Man business after a brief falling out last month. Batalon tells us via Whatsapp, "We are back and we are going to keep having fun and making great movies!"