Challengers’ sneaky Spider-Man reference was for a very specific reason

A Spider-Man reference in Challengers had fans kicking their feet, and director Luca Guadagnino has since confirmed why it was there.

Spider-Man fans found something to smile about in Challengers after the sports movie dropped a winking reference. During the film’s modern-day scenes, Tashi and Art’s daughter Lily comes into the living room and asks Tashi if she can watch a Spider-Verse movie with her. Naturally, this caused quite a stir in theaters, considering Zendaya’s connection to the Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man.

However, despite how much it might seem intentional (with Zendaya’s producer status and all), director Luca Guadagnino has actually confirmed that it wasn’t some inside joke for the superhero fans out there. Really, it all boiled down to movie rights.

As he explains it, they would have needed clearance for whatever movie Lily mentioned in Challengers. Ultimately, it made sense to use a film already under the banner of producer Amy Pascal.

“When you get rights for something to be used in a movie, it’s very complicated,” he said [via 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.”

Although Zendaya does not appear in any of the animated Spider-Verse movies, she played MJ in the most recent trilogy of Spider-Man movies starring Tom Holland. In reality, she and Holland are also one of Hollywood’s most beloved couples.

As such, this Spidey reference might have been a “coincidence”, but it’s certainly a memorable one.

For more on Challengers, check out our guide to the Challengers ending explained. You can also find out more about the Challengers soundtrack.