“Yeah, you do say that a lot,” Holland agreed.

Zendaya constantly quotes this Robert Downey Jr. line insulting Tom Holland’s Spider-Man

“Yeah, you do say that a lot,” Holland agreed.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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July 10, 2026 4:22 p.m. ET

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Tom Holland and Zendaya in Madrid on June 15, 2026; Robert Downey Jr. in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’. Credit:

Pablo Cuadra/WireImage; Chuck Zlotnick/Columbia Pictures

- Zendaya said that she frequently quotes an ad-libbed line that Robert Downey Jr. delivers in *Spider-Man: Homecoming*.

- Tom Holland agreed, “You do say that a lot.”

- Holland added, “Really interesting ad-lib, but it’s a great line, and it works in the movie.”

Just because you’re in *Spider-Man* movies doesn’t mean you can’t quote them.

Zendaya revealed that one particular turn of phrase from the web-slinging movie series has worked its way into her vernacular during an interview with BBC Radio 1 alongside her *Spider-Man: Brand New Day* costars Tom Holland and Jacob Batalon.

“You’re gonna be like, ‘No, you don’t!’” she said to her longtime partner Holland before explaining, “I do the, ‘You really screwed the pooch on that one.’”

Holland concurred. “Yeah, you do say that a lot.”

Zendaya added, “I just think that’s so funny.”

Iron Man and Spider-Man in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’.

Columbia Pictures

Zendaya was referencing a pair of lines from 2017’s *Spider-Man: Homecoming* wherein Robert Downey Jr..’s Tony Stark insults Holland’s Peter Parker by using that colorful expression to emphasize how much the young superhero has failed throughout the course of the movie and inadvertently made matters worse.

Midway through the movie, Tony says, “Previously on ‘Peter screws the pooch,’ I tell you to stay away from this,” condemning the protagonist after he compromises an investigation into arms dealer Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton).

At the end of the film, after reconciling with Peter, Tony repeats the phrase as he tells the young hero, “You screwed the pooch hard, big time. But then you did the right thing.”

Zendaya in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’.

Chuck Zlotnick/Columbia Pictures

In the BBC interview, Holland indicated that Downey improvised that line. “Really interesting ad-lib, but it’s a great line, and it works in the movie,” he said, noting his lack of familiarity with the phrase prior to Downey uttering it mid-take. “[It was] not written. I remember walking down the [hallway on set], and he said that, and I was like, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’”

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Zendaya and Batalon both expressed confusion about the meaning of the line.

“I think that was just like—what?” Zendaya said. “Such a random thing.”

“That’s just a bad white guy thing to say,” Batalon added.

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Holland, Zendaya, and Batalon will reprise their respective roles as Peter, MJ, and Ned in *Spider-Man: Brand New Day*, marking their first return to the MCU since 2021’s *Spider-Man: No Way Home*. The trio previously costarred in 2017’s *Homecoming* and 2019’s *Spider-Man: Far From Home*, and Holland and Batalon also appeared together in 2018’s *Avengers: Infinity War* and 2019’s *Avengers: Endgame*.

*Spider-Man: Brand New Day* hits theaters on July 31.

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