On set, anyway. Tom Holland and Zendaya are working on Spider-Man 3 (version 2) and were photographed on set together. MJ appears to be working in a donut shop now, and there is fake snow falling. Are we in for another random Hallmark Christmas movie ending for a December superhero movie? Or is this perhaps a glimpse into an alternate universe where MJ—a confirmed murderino—works in a cheery donut shop instead of like, sorting taxidermy at a local thrift store? Or maybe this was the only job available to MJ. Nothing worse than a Wednesday Addams girl forced into an Amanda Buckman job. It happens to the best of us. Because of the multiverse angle in this movie, it’s going to be impossible to make heads or tails out of any set photos, but MJ making that face at Peter doesn’t bode well for the state of their romantic relationship.
This is a busy time for Zendaya. Besides working on Spider-Man 3 (version 2), she has Malcolm & Marie coming out in February, and all the Oscar hopes that go with that. But maybe that will be easier this year, since awards season is going to be mostly conducted remotely. She won’t have to constantly fly back and forth between Georgia, where Spider-Man is filming, and LA. For almost a year I have been wondering what “normal” will look like after the pandemic recedes and we resume more and more of our regular lives, and the industry attempts to go back to business as usual. I say “attempts” because I think there will be some things it will be difficult to get people to do again, and awards season feels like one of those things. It’s expensive and time-consuming and after doing a largely remote awards season, without the need for costly parties (and gifting suites), or the carousel of luncheons, fetes, and glad-handing that makes up campaigning, I wonder if everyone is just going to collectively realize the whole thing got too big and scale it back. (Lainey: I predict they’ll RUSH to get back into it, for the attention.) For now, whatever weird remote shape awards season takes, I fully expect Zendaya to be a big part of it.
