Rivals director talks about mention of Aranhaverso in Zendaya’s film

Director assured that the scene was not made with the actress’ other work in mind

The new film starring and produced by Zendaya, Rivals, is being a great success and, at a certain point in the film, Spider-Man in the Spider-Verse is mentioned, which made many viewers believe that this was a reference to the actress, who plays MJ in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now, director Luca Guadagnino explained that the choice had nothing to do with Zendaya.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Guadagnino explained the mention of the film. In the film, Lily (AJ Lister) asks Tashi (Zendaya) if she can watch the film, and since it was specified as a children’s film in the script, it was easier to mention one produced by Amy Pascal, also producer of Rivals. The director explained:

“When you [precisa] getting rights for something to be used in a film is quite complicated,” he said. “Amy Pascal, our amazing producer, helped here. I said, ‘Amy, can we use one of the films in your catalog to make it easier to get the rights?’ [A personagem] is a child; She didn’t want to watch The Social Network or The Post, but maybe she’ll watch the Spider-Man cartoon, so I said, ‘Could it be Spider-Verse?’.

It took a while for the director to realize that the quote would bring extra meaning to viewers, “Now I realize it felt like a reference, and you know, the subconscious guides us all the time.” With the scene taking place in 2019, it makes sense for the film to appear, since Spider-Man in the Spider-Verse premiered in 2018 in the USA.

Rivals is a novel starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor It is Mike Faist. Directed by Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name) The film tells the story of a love triangle formed by the three protagonists, involved in the world of professional tennis.