Jacob Batalon Reveals the Story Behind Peter and Ned’s Handshake in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘ has been a box office sensation, recently surpassing ‘Avengers: Endgame’ for the largest domestic opening weekend ever. However, amidst the impressive figures, a particular character moment towards the film’s conclusion has sparked as much discussion among fans as the marketing efforts, highlighting how emotional callbacks can rival box office achievements for attention.

This moment occurs in the film’s final scene when Tom Holland’s Peter Parker reintroduces himself to Jacob Batalon’s Ned Leeds, who had his memories of Peter erased at the end of ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.’ Despite not remembering his best friend, Ned instinctively engages in their signature secret handshake as soon as Peter extends his hand, igniting fan theories about whether the memory wipe is beginning to unravel.

Batalon had much to share about this iconic handshake during his appearance at D23 this weekend, revealing how the gesture came to be. Contrary to what one might expect, Batalon confirmed that the handshake was not meticulously choreographed; it was actually created spontaneously during the filming of 2017’s ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming,’ when both he and Holland were just 19 and had no prior plan for their characters’ “best friend handshake.”

In various interviews leading up to and following the D23 event, Batalon recounted the origin story. In a conversation with PEOPLE, he noted that the handshake was improvised just moments before shooting, stating, “It was definitely something that we made up ourselves, like, two minutes before we had to shoot the scene.” The script simply called for a best friend handshake, leaving Batalon and Holland to come up with the entire sequence on the fly.

Batalon has been careful not to provide a definitive explanation regarding what the handshake signifies for Ned’s memory. In a discussion with The Hollywood Reporter, he acknowledged the ambiguity, pondering whether this moment indicates genuine memory recovery or is merely a case of muscle memory triggered by Peter’s reintroduction.

Despite the uncertainty, Batalon remains optimistic about the potential direction of the story. He views the scene as a significant nod, regardless of its literal interpretation, leaving room for future Spider-Man films to delve into whether Ned’s memories might be resurfacing in some way.

Batalon mentioned that despite the years since the trilogy’s earlier films, performing the handshake again felt surprisingly effortless. He described the movement returning to him almost instinctively, likening it to muscle memory kicking in as he and Holland needed to recreate it on screen.

This ease is understandable given how ingrained the gesture became during the original trilogy’s production, as Batalon and Holland performed it repeatedly across three films after first creating it together as teenagers. Their long-standing history has also fostered a genuine friendship off-screen, with Batalon describing Holland and Zendaya as family after years of collaboration.

With ‘Brand New Day’ still showing in theaters and speculation about Ned’s memories continuing to grow, Batalon’s storytelling at D23 has added further context to one of the film’s most discussed moments.

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