Spider-Man Producer Sternly Warned Tom Holland & Zendaya Not To Date

Spider-Man: No Way Home producer Amy Pascal warned her leads not to date each other from the very beginning. No Way Home, which opened in U.S. theaters on December 17th, is already one of the biggest films of the year. The film combines the cast of the solo Spider-Man films with the world of Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange and brings in characters from past iterations of Spider-Man, including both Sam Raimi’s 2002 trilogy and Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man 1 and 2. In just one day, No Way Home has already landed in the top 10 films of the year, nabbing the 2nd best opening weekend box office ever, right behind its predecessor Avengers: Endgame.

It seems to be inevitable that the leads of any Spider-Man film will date one another. Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst (who played Mary Jane Watson in all three Raimi films) started dating during the first film, though they had broken up before the release of its first sequel in 2004. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone (who played Gwen Stacy in the Amazing films) dated for even longer, lasting for four years across the release of both movies, even participating in an SNL sketch about their on-set relationship. The latest Spidey development is that, after rumors had swirled for several weeks, Tom Holland and Zendaya officially confirmed their couple status this December.

Speaking with The New York Times, Amy Pascal was asked why she thought it was the case that every Spider-Man actor has dated their co-lead. Although she was not involved with the franchise when Tobey Maguire was dating Kirsten Dunst, she has been present for both Tom Holland & Zendaya and Andrew Garfield & Emma Stone’s budding romances. She doesn’t know why this keeps happening, but she did advise all her stars to avoid dating because “it can just complicate things,” but they “all ignored [her].” Read the full quote below:

“I took Tom and Zendaya aside, separately, when we first cast them and gave them a lecture. Don’t go there — just don’t. Try not to. I gave the same advice to Andrew and Emma. It can just complicate things, you know? And they all ignored me.”

On-set romances have flared up between co-leads quite frequently throughout the history of Hollywood. Indeed, several of the industry’s most established couples have met this way, including Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith (who met when she auditioned for Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) and Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. (who met on the set of the 1997 slasher I Know What You Did Last Summer). There seems to be some sort of alchemical magic to the rhythm of spending hours together on set every day for weeks on end.

While this does make a lot of sense, it also makes perfect sense why producers like Pascal would want to avoid this kind of romance happening. Spider-Man: No Way Home is raking in money hand over fist, and if the stars go through a messy breakup, that could complicate future movies where they have to star together. Considering that Marvel is already developing a second Spider-Man trilogy with Tom Holland, their relationship could impact the next several years of Marvel films.

Source: The New York Times

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