Spider-Man: No Way Home's Zendaya Explains Connection to Peter Parker
Spider-Man: No Way Home star Zendaya breaks down why so many modern kids still relate to Peter Parker, in a new behind-the-scenes featurette from the film! According to Zendaya, "I've always been a fan of Spider-Man, he's always been my favorite superhero. Because I think at the end of the day, he's just a kid who has to live this double life."
As Zendaya further explains, the idea of a high school kid trying to juggle the double weight of a "normal" teen life and high-profile superhero life is one that she can especially relate to, having become a public figure and star at such an early age:
"In many ways I can relate to that, having started in the industry so early. It's really like 'I'm just a kid, I'm just figuring it out as I go. But also having this other extraordinary, crazy, life simultaneously. So I've always connected to Peter Parker in that way – and I think everyone can."
Zendaya's words certainly strike a chord with Spider-Man purists. The appeal of the "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" is just that: he's a local street-level hero who is also a typical city kid just trying to make it. He's not a billionaire like Batman or Iron Man – or some idealistic fantasy like a super-soldier or god-figure or all-powerful alien. From his painful origin to relatable struggles like just trying to make rent, Spider-Man is still very much an "everyman" of superheroes.
Ironically enough, the same thing that Zendaya praises Spider-Man for is the same thing that many fans criticized Marvel Studios' Spider-Man Home Trilogy for failing to remember. All three Marvel Spider-Man movies – Homecoming, Far From Home, No Way Home – brought Peter Parker into the company (and resources) of Tony Stark/Iron Man. The Marvel Cinematic Universe Spider-Man lived more like Richie Rich than your typical Queens, NY, kid for most of the trilogy.
Marvel obviously heard the critiques, because Spider-Man: No Way Home ended by effectively soft-rebooting the movie franchise. Tom Holland's Peter Parker has been forgotten by the world, and is living a work class (if not poor) life, while keeping NYC streets safe as Spider-Man – without all the Iron Man upgrades. So, even though Zendaya's time in the franchise may now be done, at the very least the image of a modern movie Spider-Man she helped build up will still honor those core fundamentals.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is now available on home video.