After nearly two years of teases and rumors flooding the internet, Marvel Studios' 27th theatrical release, Spider-Man: No Way Home, is making its mark. Bringing together three generations of Spider-Man movies behind Tom Holland, Jacob Batalon, and Zendaya, this threequel has already taken its place in the MCU's elite class of storytelling.
No Way Home has plenty of excitement going for its debut thanks to its use of the Multiverse, which led to appearances by five classic Spider-Man villains from Sam Raimi and Marc Webb's movies. However, its in-universe story is far from the only thing helping push this movie's place in pop culture forward, and it's not just the power couple that is Holland and Zendaya.
Before No Way Home began production, Ned Leeds star Jacob Batalon made an impressive lifestyle change by losing more than 100 lbs and renewing his physical health for his fifth MCU outing. Recently, Batalon shared what motivated him to make the lifestyle changes that led to these amazing results.
Jacob Batalon on His 100+ Lb. Weight Loss
Spider-Man: No Way Home star Jacob Batalon spoke with multiple outlets about his regimen towards losing 112 lbs over the span of two years before shooting for the MCU's Spider-Man threequel.
In a video for Men's Health, with quotes transcribed by E! Online, Batalon revealed that this weight loss allowed him to do "some wirework" for the first time in his career on the set of Spider-Man: No Way Home:
"I’ve actually done some wirework for my first time ever, falling off of things and running and jumping off of things. The less body mass you have, the more the wires can carry you and lift you, so that’s helped a lot with that."
Batalon looked back to the beginning of this journey "at the end of 2019" after he noticed himself feeling tired and lethargic at work even when he "wasn't doing anything physical:"
"I decided to get into this sort of transformation, or this sort of journey, with my health and fitness at the end of 2019. Even when I wasn't doing anything physical, I found myself getting sleepy at work and it was because of all the fat food I was eating."
Along with making healthier diet choices, Batalon began 2020 with the goal of getting healthier, getting a trainer, and working out for 90 minutes, six days a week. It started when he felt that he "could barely walk upstairs" without having to catch his breath before looking at himself in the mirror and deciding to make a major change:
"I felt like I could barely walk upstairs without being out of breath and this one day I kind of just saw myself without a shirt on and it was just ridiculous. I could not believe I let myself get this far. That's what sort of started it all."
Batalon admitted to finding "a lot of light" through this journey, expressing the fortune of having "found (his) health" in his new venture:
"I found a lot of light in the dark in the sense that a lot of people were suffering. And I was fortunate and lucky enough to have found my health and all those things."
Jacob Batalon's New Outlook on Life
Losing more than 100 lbs in body weight is no small feat for any everyday person, much less somebody with as busy of a schedule as Jacob Batalon. Even though he's never played the most physical of roles in his short career, taking on that kind of a challenge while filming major movies in and out of the MCU isn't something that he took lightly.
Following his appearances in 2019's Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home with five other projects before No Way Home, taking control of his health became a mission for Batalon so he could feel more confident in himself and his abilities. This came through in a big way for his role in the third Spidey solo film, which featured exciting action sequences that he could now be a part of with the wirework he described.
While Batalon's future in the MCU is uncertain after the events of No Way Home, the young star is setting himself up for an extended run in Hollywood with a new sense of personal health.
Fans can see Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which is now playing in theaters.
