Zendaya and Tom Holland are probably the sweetest couple in Hollywood right now. Despite keeping their relationship private for the most part, every little glimpse they have allowed fans into their love nest indicates that the best couples really are built on the pillars of friendship.
The British actor and the Oakland native didn’t take their relationship public until 2021, despite meeting in 2016 on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming, where they play future lovebirds Peter Parker and Michelle “MJ” Jones. From then on, they would refer to each other as one another’s best friend, but the public couldn’t help but root for something more. After all, both leading couples of previous Spidey installments — Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, and Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone — had gone on to bloom a romantic relationship off-screen too.
Both actors began their careers surprisingly young, but while Zendaya was already a mega star by 2016 thanks to her work on the Disney Channel, it would be Marvel that would catapult Tom to the world stage after his debut as the web-slinger in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War.
Tom and Zendaya were both born in 1996, exactly three months apart, with the first being the eldest of the two and celebrating his birthday June 1. Tom started his career in London’s West End playing the lead in Billy Elliot the Musical, a couple of years later, Zendaya would debut as Rocky Blue on Shake It Up.
Tom has continuously credited Zendaya for helping him navigate fame after Spider-Man blew up. The actor instantly took the role and conquered the hearts of millions of comic fans, and thankfully, he had someone who knew exactly what that was like right by his side, whether as a friend or later as a girlfriend.
With engagement rumors now swirling around the mediasphere, and with full conscience that only the couple and their close circle knows what their plans for the future really are, here is a complete (or as complete as possible) timeline of Zendaya and Tom Holland’s relationship.
2016 – 2017: Spider-Man: Homecoming
Tom was announced as MCU’s Spider-Man in 2015, but it wasn’t until March 2016 that Zendaya was cast as the MJ to his Peter Parker. In this new version of the friendly neighborhood superhero, Zendaya’s MJ wouldn’t be the infamous Mary Jane Watson, but rather her own new character called Michelle Jones, with no correlation to the comics, and a world of opportunities to make her own imprint on the Spidey-verse.
Whilst it’s impossible to pin down the exact date when Tom and Zendaya officially met, it’s safe to assume it happened sometime before principal photography for Homecoming began in June 2016. Tom’s first of many Instagram posts with Zendaya was made a month later in July. By then, the two seemed to have began a close friendship.
The promotional circuit for Homecoming was extensive, as is expected for a Marvel film, and while it was Laura Harrier who played Peter’s love interest Liz in the film, Disney and Marvel Studios were adamant on showing Tom and Zendaya as the leading duo instead.
The actors were featured on the cover of The Hollywood Reporter in November 2016, and were the guests of the infamous Lip Sync Battle episode that gave us Tom Holland performing Rihanna’s “Umbrella” in lingerie in May of 2017.
While this was probably due to the pull of Zendaya’s name, the potential for a classic Hollywood power couple was instantly picked up by fans of the actors, and the media machine, instantly setting off typical dating rumors.
Spider-Man: Homecoming premiered in July 2017, and soon after, the two began dismissing dating rumors, both on Twitter, in interviews and even in Zendaya’s Variety “Power of Young Hollywood” feature:
“We are friends. [There is no romance.] He’s a great dude. He’s literally one of my best friends. This past how many months we’ve had to do press tours together. There’s very few people that will understand what that’s like at 20 years old.”
Later that same year, Tom and Zendaya would be spotted having dinner in New York City with her parents, Claire Stoermer and Kazembe Coleman.
2018 – 2019: Spider-Man: Far From Home
Filming for Spider-Man: Far From Home took place between July and October 2018, but before that, Tom had already given “Tomdaya” fans a little heart attack by posting the actress’s Met Gala look to his Instagram in May. Zendaya stunned in a Joan of Arc inspired metallic look, that couldn’t leave even her co-star indifferent.
May was also the month of Tom’s hilarious Instagram blunder where he accidentally tagged Zendaya’s username over his crotch. This prompted a reply from Zendaya, who took the opportunity to tease Tom over his lack of Instagram knowledge. “He’s just Instagram stupid,” she tweeted.
Throughout the year, they attended a few events together, like the Vanity Fair Oscars after-party and London Fashion week. The two were also especially cute as they filmed Peter and MJ’s first proper swing around the city on set in New York in October.
Spider-Man: Far From Home premiered in July of 2019. The promo for the Spidey sequel wasn’t as heavy on Tom and Zendaya moments as its predecessor, with Tom joining Jake Gyllenhaal for most of it, instead.
2020 – July 2021: Spider-Man: No Way Home
Dating rumors for Tom and Zendaya slowed down during 2020, after Zendaya was spotted out and about, and kissing her Euphoria cast-mate Jacob Elordi in February. At that time, Tom was also rumored to be dating family friend Olivia Bolton. By the summer, rumors of him dating actress Nadia Parkes kicked off after he posted a picture of her on his Instagram.
Production for the third, and supposedly final, Spider-Man film, No Way Home, began in October. After getting together by the end of Far From Home, this would be the first movie to feature Peter and MJ as a couple.
In February of 2021, Tom spoke to British GQ about dating in the public eye, calling it “incredibly frustrating,” and “very nerve-racking.”
“It means that if you are dating someone, you have to be really conscious of their feelings, because if something does happen between the two of you, it’s not just happening between the two of you, it’s happening in front of the entire world. And it can be very complicated. It’s one of the things I worry about most, of all the things in my career.”
July – December 2021: Taking things public
After years of speculation, Tom and Zendaya were spotted kissing in July of 2021. This would be the first proper indication of the two being an item. In the following months, they became progressively more comfortable with displaying affection in public, even making things Instagram official.
In August, they attended Josh Florez’s wedding together, and on Zendaya’s birthday, Tom made the impossibly adorable Instagram post where he calls his better-half “My MJ.” Zendaya commented under the picture, saying “Calling now,” followed by a heart emoji.
Posting pictures of his gorgeous girlfriend to his social media became a habit for Tom, who also shared a photo of Zendaya at the premiere of Dune, and at the CFDA Awards, where she was named the Fashion Icon of 2021.
The love was reciprocated in November when Zendaya posted Tom’s GQ cover to her Instagram stories, captioning it with a heart-eyes emoji.
Promo for Spider-Man: No Way Home took flight in December with Tom and Zendaya acting closer than ever. They shared endearing behind-the-scenes moments on the Graham Norton Show, gazed lovingly into each other’s eyes during a London photocall for the movie, and discussed their kitchen habits on Heart radio.
“I like to do it my way,” Zendaya said of her experience cooking, adding “[Tom] likes to do it his way so it’s better if just one of us does it.” In turn, Tom joked about his beau’s recklessness with knives. “Every time she cooks, [she] comes millimeters from not chopping her fingers off, [but] her hand off,” he joked.
Later that month, Spider-Man: No Way Home premiered to rave reviews and massive box office numbers as it saw Tom’s Peter Parker finally join forces with Maguire and Garfield’s other iterations of the character. The premiere event was the first time Tom and Zendaya attended an official event together as a couple. Zendaya’s trusted stylist Law Roach styled Tom too for the evening, and later talked about the experience, saying the two “have been secretly in love forever.”
Zendaya took to Instagram to congratulate her boyfriend’s success, writing “My Spider-Man” in the caption — a call back to Tom’s lovely post earlier that year.
2022: Settling down
The two actors went into the new year way more comfortable with sharing a little bit of their relationship with the world. They talked about each other continuously in interviews, and were photographed attending multiple events as a couple, holding hands, and even sharing matching clothes.
While promoting season two of Euphoria in January, Zendaya repeatedly discussed the possibility of Tom joining the show in the future, confirming that he visited the set often in 2021.
The two have always shown massive support for each other’s accomplishments. Zendaya shared her ticket for Uncharted to her Instagram in March, and confessed to Tom being the first person she texted after winning her second consecutive Emmy for Best Actress in a Drama Series in September.
Who could forget the most adorable birthday post ever, made by Zendaya in June? The actress called Tom “the one who makes me the happiest,” and around the world, millions of their fans swooned.
Throughout the summer, the two were spotted together all the time. In August, Tom visited Zendaya in Budapest, where she was filming for the Dune sequel, and in October, they looked cozy visiting the Louvre, in Paris, together.
In November, Us Weekly reported that, according to an insider, Tom and Zendaya were “serious and permanent” and thinking of “a real future together.” A couple of days later, rumors started to spread that the couple was engaged.
On December 2, Zendaya’s mother seemingly denied the possible engagement through a sly Instagram story about “clickbait.”
Whether or not Tom and Zendaya are ready to take their relationship to the next level, there’s no denying they are the prince and princess of Hollywood, conquering hearts across the board with their genuinely caring and supportive relationship.