Summary
- Director Luca Guadagnino didn’t initially realize what mentioning the Spider-Verse in
Challengers
might mean to the fans — considering Zendaya’s involvement in the MCU. - The two references to peaches in
Challengers
may have Guadagnino followers thinking of a different movie, but they are not intentional. - Guadanino’s 2017 film,
Call Me by Your Name,
infamously features a peach being “used” by Timothée Chalamet’s character, Elio.
Spider-Senses might have been tingling for some theatergoers during Zendaya’s new film Challengers this weekend. Specifically, those Marvel and superhero fans in attendance undoubtedly heard Tashi (Zendaya) and Art’s (Mike Faist) daughter, Lily, asking to watch the animated Spider-Verse rather than something more from the world of tennis, which consumes her parents’ lives. Director Luca Guadagnino admits to suggesting that the superhero Spider-Man should be the young girl’s go-to, but the filmmaker didn’t realize the meaning that reference would have for fans of Zendaya’s involvement in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Guadagnino said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly:
“When you get rights for something to be used in a movie, it’s very complicated.
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?’
Now
I realize that it sounded like an in-joke,
which, you know,
the unconscious guides us all the time.”
Challengers
4/5
- Release Date
- April 26, 2024
- Writers
- Justin Kuritzkes
- Studio
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Pascal Pictures
While Zendaya does not voice any of the characters in Sony’s animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, or its sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Universe, the actress is an integral part of Spider-Man’s live-action presence in the MCU. Zendaya portrays Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) girlfriend, Michelle Jones-Watson, aka MJ. In addition to the Spider-Verse reference, Guadagnino also addressed the seemingly peachy nods to his 2017 film, Call Me by Your Name in Challengers.
Peachy Nods to Call Me by Your Name?
Challengers reigns as the No. 1 movie this weekend in theaters with an impressive $25-million worldwide debut. And while the steamy sports drama already offers audiences an all-consuming love triangle between Tashi (Zendaya), Art (Faist) and Patrick (Josh O’Connor), there appears to be a couple of Easter Eggs hiding in plain sight for fans of filmmaker Luca Guadagnino’s 2017 romance, Call Me by Your Name.
In Call Me by Your Name, Timothée Chalamet’s character, Elio, infamously pleasures himself sexually with a piece of fruit: a peach. His love interest, Oliver (Armie Hammer) finds him alone soon after and teases Elio by threatening to take a bite out of the now “used” peach! So, seeing a peach show up in a Guadagnino film can’t help but conjure up images from Call Me by Your Name. But the Challengers director insists that the two — yes two — peach scenes in the Zendaya-led romance are not references to the ever-so-peachy Call Me by Your Name. Guadagnino said in another interview with EW:
I think nods never should be gratuitous. But they were a nod because we are in Atlanta, and the symbol of Atlanta is a peach.
Challengers’ Steamy Three-Way Kiss Almost Didn’t Make the Cut, Cast Addresses the Film’s Exhilarating Ending
While Challengers’ emotional ending is still being debated, the infamous three-way kiss almost didn’t even end up in the movie.
The first sign of the peach in Challengers, which turns out isn’t a reference to Guadagnino’s best movie, is within a bowl as Art’s tennis match looms. Since the movie was being shot in Atlanta, peaches — the state’s official fruit — seemed like a no-brainer to use as a part of the set design. The second time a peach is spotted comes when Tashi and Art’s daughter, Lily, enters carrying a “furry peach.” Guadagnino continued:
The daughter of Tashi and Art, when she comes into the hotel room in Atlanta, she asks for the attention of the mother. And she comes into the room holding a furry peach.
Whether or not these references were intended or not, they’re just peachy keen. At the end of the day, nods or not, Challengers is the No. 1 movie in the world. And Luca Guadagnino is enjoying the biggest opening weekend of his illustrious career.
Challengers
is now playing exclusively in theaters.
