Tom Holland and Zendaya beat the Spider-Man and MJ curse.
According to longtime Spider-Man producer Amy Pascal, the franchise’s lead actors were asked not to fall in love despite their character’s iconic romance. Speaking to the BBCin a new interview uploaded to Instagram on July 30, Pascal was asked if it’s true that she “asked Tom Holland and Zendaya not to date” while filming Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017.
“Yes,” Pascal confirmed.
She explained that she could see them falling in love from a mile away, noting that previous Peter Parkers and Mary-Jane Watsons (or Gwen Stacy) have always fallen in love.
Indeed, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst dated briefly from 2001 to 2002 while filming the first Spider-Man film in Sam Raimi’s original franchise. Similarly, Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone also fell in love, dating from 2011 to 2015 after meeting on the set of The Amazing Spider-Man.
“MJ and Peter just always fall in love. There’s nothing you can do about it,” Pascal admitted.
But while things didn’t work out for Maguire and Dunst and Garfield and Stone, Holland and Zendaya proved their relationship was the exception.
The couple famously formed an enduring friendship for years before they finally confirmed their romance in 2021, by which time their third movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home, had come out.
By early 2025, it was confirmed that Holland asked Zendaya to marry him. And last month, while promoting the film’s fourth installment, Brand New Day, Holland confirmed he and Zendaya quietly tied the knot.
2026-07-31 17:10:00
