What’s that Naruto nod in Ned’s room? Spider-Man’s Jacob Batalon explains

If you caught Spider-Man: Brand New Day in the cinema recently and noticed a cheeky Naruto poster lurking in Ned Leeds' bedroom, you're not alone. Turns out, that anime nod is much more than set dressing — it's actually a little inside gag aimed at director Destin Daniel Cretton's next big venture. If you're into catching these blink-and-you-miss-it details, this one's undoubtedly for you.

Now, there was a bit of confusion about who to credit for the reference. At first glance, fans (and even a few reporters) assumed that actor Jacob Batalon — who has publicly owned up to loving the manga — must have pushed for the poster himself. But Batalon cleared things up with The Hollywood Reporter, explaining that it's actually something far more intentional: Cretton himself is developing the live-action Naruto movie, so yes, he's basically giving himself a wink via Easter egg.

Speaking in an interview about the background of the reference, Batalon put it like this:

Batalon told The Hollywood Reporter: 'Yeah, he’s definitely shouting himself out there, and we absolutely talked about his Naruto movie. So it was a really cool nod to himself. He deserves it.'

The Brand New Day set designers went a step further: anyone eagle-eyed enough to scan the rest of Ned's decor will have noticed a Solo Leveling poster. That one's another sly tip of the hat, as Solo Leveling is apparently also heading for a live-action adaptation at some point — though it's early days yet for that project.

A Director With Plenty on His Plate

Cretton's Naruto project has been floating in studio pre-production since 2024, and he's set to write and direct the whole shebang. One especially promising bit: Masashi Kishimoto, the actual creator of the manga, is involved 'closely' with the adaptation. Don't expect any meaty plot details for a while; the storyline is still tightly under wraps.

But Cretton did sit down with RollingStone and laid out his take on the story's emotional core. He's intent on focusing the film around Naruto's childhood, specifically his time as a bit of a social pariah — that outcast energy is something the director says he feels very strongly about, both culturally and personally.

Here's how Cretton described it in RollingStone: 'I think his journey in the story that we are going to tell is something that I find very personal, not only culturally, but emotionally.'

Meanwhile, Cretton's got other franchises vying for his attention. Spider-Man: Brand New Day has gone nuclear at the box office, clocking $1.155 billion in its first week alone — if you were wondering just how big of a smash hit it actually is. The director was also once tipped for the next Avengers film, originally attached to Kang Dynasty before Marvel gave the whole thing a shake-up and moved it toward Doomsday territory instead. And if you're waiting on Shang-Chi 2, that superhero sequel is still on his slate, too.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day has pulled in $1.155 billion worldwide in its opening week.