The future is very, very bright for Zendaya.
Regardless of who she’s playing in next month’s Spider-Man: Homecoming (more on that later), the former Disney Channel actress is now on a path to stardom, and as part of her recent Vogue cover shoot (h/t CBM), Homecoming director Jon Watts hailed Zendaya as an “amazingly technical actor.”
Not only that, but early on in the casting process for Spider-Man: Homecoming, Watts had a very specific point of reference for the vacant role of Michelle (?): Ally Sheedy from The Breakfast Club. Soon after establishing the parameters in search of an actress to play the film’s quirky, introverted outcast – or the closest approximation of Allison Reynolds he could find – Zendaya tested for Homecoming and left Jon Watts suitably impressed. As a matter of fact, as the filmmaker reveals to Vogue, the rising star dreamed up a handful of personal quirks and idiosyncrasies to help flesh out the character.
She proved to be “an amazingly technical actor. She added flourishes to her character, suggesting Michelle wear no makeup and carry around her own mug of strange herbal tea. “It makes me feel like such a bozo when I’m in front of someone who is that young and already just so good at what they do.”
As we alluded to before, the actual identity of Zendaya’s character is still something of mystery. For instance, is she attached to the part of Mary Jane Watson as rumored? Or is Michelle’s second name Toomes, making her the daughter of Michael Keaton’s power-mongering Vulture? We’ll find out in a few weeks’ time.
On July 7th, Spider-Man: Homecoming will jump-start a whole new trilogy of standalone Spidey movies. On the other side of the fence, Sony is quietly beginning to piece together its own Marvel Universe, beginning with the launch of Ruben Fleischer’s Venom spinoff on October 5th 2018. Expect the cameras to begin rolling on that one come September.
