Challengers Director Confirms That Spider-Verse Mention Wasn’t a Zendaya Reference

That Spider-Verse reference was merely a convenient legal clearance.

In Zendaya’s new film Challengers, there is a reference to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and while some audiences might think this was a nod to the actor’s tenure as MJ in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, director Luca Guadagnino instead confirmed it was a title that would have been organically brought up that was easy to legally clear, thanks to producer Amy Pascal. The director pointed out how, given that the context is that a little girl asks her mom (played by Zendaya) to watch a movie with her, it would make more sense that she would select Spider-Verse as opposed to any other movie Pascal might have produced and, therefore, would have been easy to get permission to reference.

“When you get rights for something to be used in a movie, it’s very complicated,” Guadagnino confirmed to Entertainment Weekly. “Amy Pascal, our amazing producer, was of help there. I said, ‘Amy, can we use one of your catalog titles so it’s going to be easier to clear them?’ [Lily]’s a girl; she’s not going to choose to watch The Social Network or The Post, but maybe she’s going to watch a Spider-Man cartoon, so I said, ‘Why not Spider-Verse?'”

He added, “Now I realize that it sounded like an in-joke, which, you know, the unconscious guides us all the time.”

With this section of the film taking place in 2019, it would also make more sense that, of all the cartoons the young character would be interested in watching, it would be the groundbreaking superhero movie that had only been released late into 2018. 

Still, between not just Zendaya starring in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, but also the actor being in a real-world relationship with her Peter Parker costar Tom Holland, a significant portion of audiences will likely assume this was a sly reference to her life outside of the tennis movie.

Challengers is described, “From visionary filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, Challengers stars Zendaya as Tashi Duncan, a former tennis prodigy turned coach and a force of nature who makes no apologies for her game on and off the court. Married to a champion on a losing streak (Mike Faist — West Side Story), Tashi’s strategy for her husband’s redemption takes a surprising turn when he must face off against the washed-up Patrick (Josh O’Connor — The Crown) — his former best friend and Tashi’s former boyfriend. As their pasts and presents collide, and tensions run high, Tashi must ask herself, what will it cost to win.”

Challengers is in theaters now.

What did you think of the reference in the movie? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!