One of the MCU’s top best friends is taking center stage in his next role. Jacob Batalon, who plays Ned Leeds in Tom Holland-led Spider-Man films, is starring in a new vampire series at Syfy. And while many probably maxed out their limit for vampires by 2014—with a little Twilight revisit every so often, as a treat—this new series appears to subvert tired vampire tropes. Reginald the Vampire is an upcoming adaptation of Johnny B. Truant’s Fat Vampire novels. And its first teaser trailer has excited for what’s to come.
The description of the Reginald the Vampire teaser trailer basically sums it all up. “He is the night … and he’ll give you 25 dollars if you let him drink your blood.” The show looks a little goofy, but like it will be a lot of fun. And Batalon clearly loves the role.
Here’s the logline, per Deadline:
The series follows “Reginald Baskin who tumbles headlong into a world populated by beautiful, fit and vain vampires as an unlikely hero who will have to navigate every kind of obstacle — the girl he loves but can’t be with, a bully manager at work and the vampire chieftain who wants him dead. Fortunately, Reginald discovers he has a few unrecognized powers of his own.
Sony Pictures/Marvel Studios
Considering how much of our more recent vampire media exclusively focused on the same brand of thin, impossibly attractive—and mostly white—vampires, it’s really refreshing that the show, and the books it’s based on, are specifically pushing back on that ridiculous criteria.
The series, which is from Harley Peyton, a writer and producer on Twin Peaks and the upcoming Chucky series, received a 10-episode order from Syfy. We do now know that when the series airs, it will eventually become available to stream on Hulu in the United States, and on Amazon in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. And we can expect it on our screens in the fall. Reginald the Vampire releases on October 5.
We’re excited to see Batalon taking the lead role. His only major non-MCU role was in the Netflix holiday ensemble flick Let It Snow. And I thought he was quite charming in the movie. Of course, he’s excellent as Ned Leeds, Peter Parker’s best friend and “guy in the chair.”
In addition to appearing in the Spider-Man films Homecoming and Far From Home, he’s also made cameos in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. We last saw him reprise his role in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Originally published August 6, 2021.
