Here’s a Timeline of Tom Holland and Zendaya’s Relationship, Because We’re Chasing Joy Where We Can
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The post Here’s a Timeline of Tom Holland and Zendaya’s Relationship, Because We’re Chasing Joy Where We Can appeared first on Consequence.
Our 2021 Annual Report continues with a Tomdaya timeline, because why not? As the year winds down, stay tuned for more awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of 2021. You can find it all in one place here.
Look, we all needed a win this year.
Happy release week to Spider-Man: No Way Home, which is allegedly exciting and fresh and an impressive moment for the MCU and all that. Anyway, let’s talk about two of its leads: Spider-Man and MJ. Peter Parker and Mary Jane. Tom and Z.
Tom Holland (a golden retriever who was accidentally transformed into a lovable young man with the gifts of song, dance, and acrobatics) exploded to full-fledged stardom when he was just nineteen years old. The former Billy Elliot switched out the curtain call tutu for an iconic spidey suit in Captain America: Civil War, and the world was never the same. Raise your hand if you remember seeing him on screen as Peter Parker for the first time and feeling your silly little life tilt off its axis.
Regardless of how you feel about the corporate nature of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s hard to deny the charm that Holland brings to the role. He even received a cosign from the late Stan Lee, who once said that Tom brought Peter to life exactly as he’d imagined him to be all those years ago.
Enter Zendaya (an ethereal goddess who, like Aphrodite, emerged from the sea as a vision of beauty and grace and walked directly to the nearest red carpet), who came into the picture in 2017 as the moody Michelle Jones in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Michelle Jones… but her friends call her MJ… or at least they would if she had any friends! Get it!?!
Zendaya is one of the most famous people on the planet. She is a tremendously talented actress. She lives and breathes another day, another slay — she’s quickly cemented herself as a red carpet icon. Her transition from Disney kid to in-demand actress was one of the smoothest of all time, and Spider-Man was a big part of that. She was able to step away from Disney Channel while keeping things in the family, creating space and time before diving headfirst into the more intense worlds of Euphoria and Malcolm & Marie.
Rumors have been flying about them for years, and in 2021, the impossible happened. One beautiful day, the clouds parted, the sun broke through, and it was spoken: Tomdaya is real.
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Before we continue, a note about our methodology: While we are thrilled the couple is finally sharing their relationship with the world, a few parts of the timeline, like the July 2021 paparazzi photos or leaked images of the two together at a wedding, have been omitted for the sake of respecting their privacy. Share your relationship on your terms, Tomdaya!
Additionally, Zendaya and Tom first met during screen tests for Spider-Man: Homecoming, and it’s clear that through filming in 2016, they immediately found an easy rapport; the chemistry was palpable. But again, we have omitted these early happenings, because A) it was probably just work for them back then, and B) we’d rather get to the good stuff.
It’s a wonderful time to be alive, and what a joy that we get to witness the absolute adoration between these two, especially on the recent press tour for No Way Home. How, exactly, did we reach this point? Let’s rewind.
May 2017: The Fishnets That Started It All
Tom Holland and Zendaya’s episode of Lip Sync Battle is the stuff of legend, as it should be. No offense to any of the many other stars who have appeared on the show, but Tom gave what is definitively the best performance Lip Sync Battle has ever seen, and it will simply never be surpassed.
An entirely separate analysis could be written about his medley of “Singin’ In the Rain” into Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and the attractiveness of his casual confidence. Other than the fact that it introduced the world to his song and dance origins, what the performance comes down to is the fact that he committed to the bit. He didn’t play the fishnets and smoky eye as a caricature.
Zendaya was too stunned to speak. Stars — they’re just like us!
June 2017: The Globetrotting Leather Jacket
Move over, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s scarf — it’s time for a new article of clothing to have its moment in pop culture canon! For longtime Tomdaya Truthers (read: off-kilter people with too much time on their hands, aka this writer), the leather jacket has long been a sticking point.
In the interest of avoiding an HBO crime drama-style diagram with red string connecting the jacket to Tomdaya’s globe-trotting adventures, here’s the gist. Back during the Spider-Man: Homecoming press tour, Tom posted a video to Instagram in Zendaya’s hotel room showing off a black leather jacket and explaining that he’d “run out of clothes” and swiped something of hers.
Zendaya then retold the story on a late night show and on Good Morning America, and things kept snowballing. Turns out the clothing exchange was frequent? The leather jacket, among other items, kept popping up for years to come. We’ve all been there — doesn’t everyone super platonically share clothes with their super platonic, gorgeous co-star?
May 2018-Present: Posting On Main
Real ones remember the evolution of Tom’s birthday posts for Zendaya over the years. Despite being incredibly famous and on top of the world at a young age, there are so many things about Tom that are deeply relatable. His username on Instagram is @TomHolland2013, and his Twitter name is @TomHolland1996 – chaos! Most relatable, he looks at Zendaya with absolute stars in his eyes, and often posts photos of her he had to have downloaded off Getty Images. That boy is out here searching the “Zendaya red carpet” tag on Twitter, just like the rest of us.
Has there ever been a better glow-up than the evolution of Tom Holland’s captions in these posts, though? Consider the following:
2018, Zendaya on the red carpet of the Met Gala. Caption: “All hail the queen. Killing it, mate”
2019, Zendaya and Tom at the top of the Empire State Building. Caption: “The birthday girl! Hope you’re having an amazing day.”
2020, a mysterious lack of birthday post.
September 1, 2021, all hell breaks loose. A mirror selfie of Tom and Z in Tom’s trailer. Caption: “My MJ, have the happiest of birthdays. Gimme a call when your up xxx”
Now, there’s lots to unpack there, beginning with the fact that either no one told Tom that Instagram captions can be edited, or no one told him he used the wrong form of “your.” On to more important things!
“My MJ.” MY MJ! His MJ! A public claim, in front of all 52 million of Tom’s closest friends. The new day dawned on September 1st, 2021. It seems like Tom and Zendaya have not looked back since, and neither have we.
June 2019: Get Us Pictures Of Spider-Man, And Also Of His Love Interest MJ
Tom Holland’s bromance with Jake Gyllenhaal dominated the press tour for 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, but that doesn’t matter, because this movie allowed Peter and MJ’s burgeoning love affair to blossom. Was a love affair blossoming offscreen at that point as well? Either way, we got a Tomdaya onscreen kiss. Absolutely huge for morale.
March 2021: They Never Go Out Of Style
Turns out these two have more in common than just huge amounts of talent and affection for one another. Zendaya’s longtime stylist, the very gifted Law Roach, is responsible for many of Zendaya’s most iconic looks.
Tom has always been adorable, but his style in recent years has certainly been kicked up a notch. People were speculating about a certain stylist’s input, which was confirmed in March of this year when Tom appeared on the cover of British Vogue styled by none other than Law Roach.
Things have only continued to improve since then, as Tom has let his naturally wavy hair free from the shackles of gel. He’s glowing, he’s thriving, and so are we.
September/October 2021: Tom Is ~Dune~ the Most
It appeared that in the fall of 2021, Tom took an interest in public relations. He really wanted people to know about the movie Dune — and more specifically, he wanted people to know about Zendaya’s role in the film. He posted yet another solo red carpet photo of Z killing it as always, simply captioning it “Dune,” accompanied by a heart-eyes emoji. Tom must be a huge fan of… Denis Villeneuve’s work.
“You’re becoming a Zendaya fan page,” people said in the comments. He responded by posting yet another photo of her a few weeks later. We stan a social media influencer committed to his brand!
December 2021: No Way Home, No Holds Barred
This brings us to present day, in which Tom and Z have rightfully thrown pretenses to the wind and leaned into their status as the most beloved lovebirds of the year. Neither of them is even trying to hide their giddiness anymore – our girl Zendaya is giggling. To be fair, who wouldn’t be?
Sending all vibes and support to Jacob Batalon, the last piece of the central trio in this era of Spider-Man, who has had to sit through interview after interview of these two playfully arguing, breaking down the scenes they’d like to revisit (“making out in the rain”) or sharing moments of domestic bliss (“We are both controlling in the kitchen”).
Tom can’t shut up about her on the red carpet. He stopped an interview when she arrived and huddled with the interviewer to catch a glimpse of her dress. They shared a kiss after the screening. For 2017 Tomdaya believers, Christmas has come early.
We are all excited for Spider-Man: No Way Home to finally hit theaters tonight, December 16th… but that tragically means this press tour is coming to a close, too.
At least we can depend on user @TomHolland2013 on Instagram dot com for updates.
Pictured: Tom Holland, who absolutely knows which side his bread is buttered on, ensnared in Zendaya’s web. Of love (Photo by Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images)
Here’s a Timeline of Tom Holland and Zendaya’s Relationship, Because We’re Chasing Joy Where We Can
Mary Siroky
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