Roofman Director on Why Channing Tatum Movie Has Spider-Man Easter Eggs

Roofman director Derek Cianfrance recently spoke about the Spider-Man Easter eggs and references in the crime comedy movie, beyond Kirsten Dunst. Notably, Dunst portrayed Mary Jane Watson in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. Roofman’s main cast also includes Channing Tatum, who plays Jeffrey Manchester, a real-life spree robber.

Derek Cianfrance discusses Roofman’s amazing Spider-Man connection

Cianfrance explained Roofman’s Spider-Man connection during a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter. The outlet reports that the real-life Jeffrey Manchester slept on Spider-Man bedsheets while hiding in the walls of a Toys “R” Us store in Charlotte, North Carolina, and watched Raimi’s Spider-Man 2. The Charlotte Observer reports that he also had a Spider-Man 2 poster featuring Dunst on his hideout wall in 2004.

When asked by The Hollywood Reporter if Dunst ever acknowledged the Spider-Man trivia, Cianfrance admitted that he didn’t speak to the Oscar nominee about that. However, he did mention that Dunst called him after watching the movie. “So she was saying that it was so funny to her when she saw Jeff go to sleep in his Spider-Man bedsheets,” the filmmaker recalled. “She was like, ‘Here he was going to sleep in Spider-Man bedsheets, and I didn’t even realize until right now that I played Mary Jane. It’s so weird, but it’s great.'”

Cianfrance noted that the real-life Manchester did sleep on Spider-Man bedsheets, adding, “That was a detail that I took from his life.” He also disclosed how Manchester reacted after learning that Dunst would play Leigh Wainscott, the woman with whom he was in a relationship during this period.

“So when I told him [Manchester] that Kirsten Dunst was playing Leigh, I think he had a bit of infatuation as everyone has had with Kirsten Dunst at a certain point,” Cianfrance said. “She’s Mary Jane, and everyone watched her in awe, so Jeff couldn’t believe that it was her playing Leigh.

Meanwhile, on Tatum’s casting, Manchester apparently told Cianfrance “to find someone uglier.”

Roofman premiered at TIFF on September 6, 2025, and will debut in US theaters this Friday.

Originally reported by Tamal Kundu on SuperHeroHype.

Source: Comingsoon.net