Tom Holland and Zendaya are not the first Spider-Man co-stars to find themselves tangled up in love's web.
The Spider-Man: No Way Home stars are actually the third and latest pair to translate their on-screen chemistry into a real-life romance.
However, not without receiving a little word of warning first. In an interview with The New York Times on Friday, Dec. 17, No Way Home producer Amy Pascal revealed that she attempted to advise Tom and Zendaya against any future dating shortly after they were cast, but to no avail.
"I took Tom and Zendaya aside, separately, when we first cast them and gave them a lecture," Pascal said. "Don't go there—just don't. Try not to."
The recent trilogy producer and former Sony executive, who also oversaw the first five Spider-Man films, added that Tom and Zendaya weren't the first leading actors she'd tried to lecture against coupling up either.
"I gave the same advice to Andrew [Garfield] and Emma [Stone]," she explained. "It can just complicate things, you know?"
But despite her cautioning, she revealed that the stars all came to the same conclusion, adding, "They all ignored me."
Fans have witnessed all three actors who have taken up the title of Spider-Man fall in love with their on-screen love interests—be it MJ or Gwen Stacy—since the beginning. In fact, the first instance of MJ and Peter's romance translating off-screen was between actors Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst while shooting the very first film.
"They apparently began dating with each other, I think, in the middle of the first movie...although I didn't know it at the time," Sam Raimi, director of the first Spider-Man trilogy, told the Sydney Morning-Herald in 2007.
However, their relationship didn't last long. "They eventually broke up before the second movie. I was concerned they wouldn't get the same chemistry back, but it was just me worrying," he explained. "They really like each other, I think, very much. And that relationship probably just added to their ability to trust each other."
In 2017, Kirsten got engaged and later had two children with her Fargo and The Power of the Dog co-star Jesse Plemons. Tobey married and had two children with jewelry designer Jennifer Meyer, whom he separated from in 2016.
Andrew and Emma would later find themselves in a very similar situation. The Amazing Spider-Man co-stars, who played Peter Parker and his girlfriend Gwen Stacy, dated for four years after meeting on set before they confirmed their amicable breakup in 2015.
Since their split, the Cruella star went on to marry director Dave McCary in 2020 and welcomed a baby girl with him in March. In September, Andrew reflected on his time shooting the Amazing Spider-Man films, telling Variety it "was only beautiful."
"I got to meet Emma and work with her and Sally Field," he told the outlet. "I had karma with Amy Pascal, who was a mother figure, and we would fight, but ultimately, we loved each other on a deep level."