A supporting character in stories featuring the superhero Spider-Man, he has been a reporter for the Daily Bugle, and husband of Betty Brant.

Synergetic with his MCU adaptation, Ned is revealed to be a sorcerer who trained with Baron Mordo to learn chaos magic, rewriting reality in an attempt to make himself the one-and-only Hobgoblin, archenemy of Spider-Man and lover of Natasha Romanoff.

Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Ned Leeds made his first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #18 (November 1964).

[3] He would win outright when Betty went into stress induced shock after J. Jonah Jameson was attacked at the Daily Bugle by the Scorpion.

[volume & issue needed] Ned and Peter go on an assignment in Berlin, and Leeds is murdered by the Foreigner at Jason Macendale's request as a replacement Hobgoblin.

Swearing revenge, Peter retreats into his own body, with Venom taking over his functions to train for years in a pocket dimension with Doctor Strange to defeat Ned, beating the Hobgoblin to a pulp as his girlfriend the Red Cat flees, before travelling into the realm of Nightmare to return reality to its normal state, with both Peter and Ned losing their memories of the "alien reality" as a result.

[14] In spite of this, Ned is revealed to have been alive all along, his body having resurrected immediately following his assassination due to him having ingested Norman Osborn's Goblin Formula beforehand.

As the Hobgoblin, Ned wore his signature uniform and used the glider and equipment which included Jack O'Lantern bombs, razor bats and electrical shock gloves.

[17] The Ultimate Marvel version of Ned Leeds is a reporter for the Daily Bugle and an alcoholic with an antagonistic relationship with Betty Brant.

In this continuity, the characters are high school students, and Ned is Mary Jane's boyfriend, who breaks up with her to reunite with his ex-girlfriend Betty Brant.