gshc2020.com

I took my first cruise as a toddler, and after 58 sailings, I've watched the onboard experience change significantly. Gone are the days of midnight buffets and endless lobster nights in the dining room.

Although cruise fares are still largely inclusive, it's easy to feel nickel-and-dimed once you're on board. From specialty restaurants to drink packages, spa treatments, and professional photos, the cost of your cruise can climb quickly after embarkation.

I'm still happy to splurge on certain add-ons that enhance my cruise experience. For instance, I won't hesitate to pay for a memorable specialty dining meal or upgrade to a balcony cabin on a scenic itinerary.

But after 26 years of cruising, I've also learned that some add-ons are rarely worth the money. Regardless of the ship, itinerary, or cruise line, these are the onboard extras that I never waste my money on.

Most onboard spa treatments don't feel like a great value.

Spa treatments might seem like a tempting way to relax during your cruise, but I've rarely found them worth the high price.

After splurging on massages across multiple cruise lines, I've always left disappointed. My husband is a sucker for the spa, but after we spent more than $400 on a couples massage during a cruise to New Zealand, even he agreed it wasn't worth the splurge.

Although the massages themselves were perfectly fine, the upselling afterward always makes me uncomfortable. Therapists often encourage you to buy expensive products, but the pushy sales tactics can quickly offset the post-massage relaxation.

Instead, I'd rather splurge on a thermal spa pass. It's often cheaper than a couples massage and it lets me enjoy the spa's amenities throughout the cruise without feeling pressured to buy anything.

Drink packages never feel like a good value for us.

Although unlimited cocktails might sound appealing, purchasing a drink package has actually made my cruises less relaxing.

I've splurged on drink packages with Royal Caribbean and Carnival, but I can't drink enough alcohol to justify the cost. Often, they can cost upward of $70 per person, per day.

Whenever I've purchased one, I've found myself constantly calculating how many drinks I need to order just to break even. This completely defeats the convenience of having a drink package in the first place.

I also don't have the stamina to drink consistently throughout a cruise, especially on longer itineraries.

Even when my husband and I cruised with friends who had drink packages, we struggled to get our money's worth. Instead, we ended up drinking more than we normally would, which left us feeling bloated and hungover.

Now, the only time I'll cruise with a drink package is when it's bundled with a fare, such as with Norwegian's Free at Sea or Celebrity's All Included.

On-board art auctions and pricey paintings don't tempt me.

Almost every cruise ship I've been on has had a dedicated art gallery where guests can browse and purchase artwork to bring home. Throughout the sailing, the galleries host art auctions and entice guests with the promise of free Champagne.

I've never been tempted to attend one — not even for a free drink. Buying expensive artwork isn't my style, and I've heard horror stories from cruisers who regret getting caught up in the excitement of a competitive auction.

If I'm going to buy artwork during a trip, I'd rather support local artists in port. In fact, many of my walls are covered with beautiful pieces of art from all over the world.

I don't bother with professional photos when I can take my own.

On most cruise lines, photographers repeatedly ask you to pose for pictures, whether that's during embarkation, while you're eating at a specialty restaurant, or as you're stepping off the gangway in port.

These photos can be fun keepsakes, but each printed photo usually costs around $25 — and that often doesn't include a digital copy.

Photo packages can be an even bigger expense, often costing more than $100. Some cruisers buy a package before they even know whether they'll like enough photos to make it worthwhile.

Although this is a convenient way to get posed photos, I don't think professional cruise photos are worth the price. My phone takes excellent pictures, and there's almost always another guest who's happy to snap a quick group photo for me.

Laundry services can get pricey, and I don't mind washing clothes at sea as needed.

I've taken plenty of longer itineraries, including a 15-night repositioning cruise from Sydney to Singapore. Laundry can pile up on these long sailings, but I've never paid to have the cruise line do it for me.

Cost is the biggest reason I avoid using this service while cruising. For example, on my most recent Celebrity cruise, prices ranged from about $12 to launder a dress to nearly $24 for a suit. A full laundry bag can easily turn into a hefty bill.

Instead, I pack a few travel-size laundry-detergent packets and hand-wash smaller items in my cabin sink or shower. I'll typically wash undergarments and socks in warm water before hanging them to dry in the shower.

After hand-washing my clothes for 100 days during Semester at Sea in college, washing a few items in my cruise cabin is no big deal.

Read next

Allie Hubers

You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.

Allie Hubers is a freelance writer based in Niceville, Florida. She has a passion for global travel and cruising. Allie holds an MBA in Data Analytics and works as a data designer and analyst, while also teaching statistics and analytics at Penn State. She also runs the travel blog Candid Cruise & Travel. 

• Cruise
• Cruises
• Travel
• More

Since then, the two have been relatively tight-lipped about their relationship, but have given fans small glimpses of their bond. In January 2025, Zendaya walked the Golden Globes red carpet with a ring on that finger, but remained mum about their relationship status. Holland, on the other hand, went from calling her his girlfriend in 2022 to his fiancée in 2025 to his wife in 2026.

Now, they're two of the highest-grossing movie stars of all time: Their two recent releases, "The Odyssey" and "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," became major global box-office hits. If you include the "Avengers" films and "Dune," they're near-unbeatable.

Here's a complete timeline of their relationship from costars to friends to spouses.

Sometime before March 2016: Holland and Zendaya met during her audition process for "Spider-Man: Homecoming."

Holland was cast as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in 2015, following multiple auditions around the world. He would go on to make his Marvel debut in "Captain America: Civil War," released in May 2016.

In March 2016, Deadline reported that Zendaya would join him in "Homecoming."

"My first meeting with Zendaya was very embarrassing, actually, for me," Holland recalled during a 2016 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, explaining that it "wasn't my smoothest moment."

Zendaya recalled their chemistry read differently, telling Variety in 2017: "He says when we first met it was super awkward because he went for a handshake and I went for a hug. But I don't remember that. I thought it was cool."

The actor did say she was "worried" because Holland is "so much shorter" than she is, but the stars sat down during the audition, so it went well.

Holland also told THR that he "didn't really know what to expect with Zendaya," but he was relieved when he met her.

"I was so surprised and so happy she's one of the most professional, hardworking people I've ever met in my life," he said. "We were at the screen tests for 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' and we did the first scene together, and I think the producers cast her, like, then. Before she even left the room, they knew that she was going to play her character."

The feelings were mutual, with Zendaya telling THR: "He's so nice, he's one of the nicest people I think I've ever met. He's a good dude, and so it's really good to see good things going on for a good person."

July 10, 2016: Holland posted his first photo with Zendaya on Instagram.

"Summer Sunday's," he captioned the photo, which showed him, Zendaya, and another person in a pool.

July 23, 2016: Holland and Zendaya attended their first red carpet together at San Diego Comic-Con.

The two stars, as well as other "Homecoming" cast members, were present for Marvel's panel at the San Diego Convention Center. First-look footage from "Homecoming" was shown at the panel, and the actors teased what fans could expect from the movie.

Holland posted a photo of himself, Laura Harrier (Liz), Tony Revolori (Flash Thompson), Jacob Batalon (Ned Leeds), and Zendaya on-stage with the caption: "Team Spidey ❤️ #spidermanhomecoming #comiccon."

He also shared a video with the cast, with the caption: "What a crazy weekend its been. Blessed to be able to share it with these beautiful people 😘. Love you guys. Thank you thank you thank you #spidermanhomecoming #comiccon."

Zendaya shared a group photo taken by Entertainment Weekly and wrote: "Couldn't be more thankful and excited to be on this journey with these people...love y'all! #spideycrew #weinhere."

November 2016: Holland and Zendaya appeared in their first joint cover, for The Hollywood Reporter.

Zendaya shared a photo of the magazine cover on Instagram and wrote: "Amidst all the chaos and sadness...this one good thing did happen to me today. Honored to share it with the very best...Spider-Man himself @tomholland2013."

She also called them the "dream team" in another Instagram post, while Holland wrote: "Over the moon with my first cover. So grateful that I got to share it with the one and only @zendaya. Thanks mate for helping me out."

November 2016: Holland, in costume, surprised patients at a New York hospital, and Zendaya called him "world's best real-life Spider-Man."

Holland, Zendaya, and Batalon visited New York-Presbyterian together, as seen in videos that were posted on social media.

"What a beautiful day at the @nyphospital. Thank you so much for having us and making this happen. Always love being back with the squad @Zendaya and @lifeisaloha," Holland wrote.

Zendaya shared the same video, with the caption: "I think we have world's best real-life Spider-Man....an absolutely beautiful day at @nyphospital with two of my favorite people @tomholland2013 @lifeisaloha."

May 7, 2017: Holland and Zendaya's now-iconic "Lip Sync Battle" aired on MTV, cementing its place in pop culture.

Zendaya knocked out her performance of Bruno Mars' "24K Magic." But it was Holland's sensational, jaw-dropping mashup of Gene Kelly's "Singin' in the Rain" and Rihanna's "Umbrella" that stole the show.

"I just knew that at that point in my life, no one really knew who I was," Holland told Esquire in 2021. "And I was doing this show with Zendaya, who is obviously incredibly famous, and I was really nervous about being this random guy who everyone was like, 'Who is this person? Why are you on the stage?'"

He added: "So I just thought to myself like, I'm going to have to just do something incredibly bold, and if they watch it and don't know who I am, they'll still be entertained by it."

And entertained they were. The original video has had more than 35 million views as of August 2026.

"I get more compliments on the lip sync battle than I do for any of my actual work, ever, to the point where now I'm over it," Holland said in his 2019 Wired Autocomplete interview.

The actor later told Esquire that it was the most nerve-racking thing he's ever done and he wouldn't do it again.

"It was amazing that I got to do it with Zendaya, and yes, she did go there to have some fun, and yes, I did go there to destroy," he said. "But oh my God, that was easily the most stressful thing I've ever done in my life."

Meanwhile, Zendaya told Entertainment Weekly that she and Holland are "very competitive with everything" because of their battle.

"I feel like now I have to beat him in everything else in life because that specific moment happened," she said.

May 7, 2017: Holland and Zendaya attended the MTV Movie & TV Awards and shared a new teaser for "Homecoming."

Holland, who did gymnastics as a child, performed a flip onstage prior to presenting new footage from the movie.

June 1, 2017: Zendaya called Holland a "great" human being in a post on his 21st birthday.

The "Greatest Showman" star posted an outtake from a photo shoot with their "Homecoming" costars, which showed Zendaya mockingly striking a Spidey pose.

"As usual...making fun of Tom," she wrote, adding, "Happy birthday man.

"You deserve every bit of the amazing stuff coming your way."

June 2017: They embarked on the press tour for "Homecoming."

On social media, they gushed about doing interviews and other press with the rest of the cast. Holland also channeled Will Smith's "ta-da" pose that he famously used to hype up Jada Pinkett Smith on red carpets.

"Everyone deserves a hype man like @tomholland2013 #hewillsmithedus," Zendaya captioned a photo of Holland extending his arms toward her and "Homecoming" director Jon Watts.

July 7, 2017: "Spider-Man: Homecoming" was released in theaters.

Zendaya's character wasn't prominently featured in the movie, though she popped up in scenes to deliver one-liners typically directed at Peter.

The main love story of the movie centered on Peter and Liz, the captain of their school's academic decathlon team, and the daughter of Spidey villain Vulture (played by Michael Keaton).

July 2017: Holland jokingly called Zendaya his first celebrity crush … before admitting it was actually Jennifer Aniston.

"I loved her," Holland told PopBuzz, admitting that he had a crush on Aniston during her time as Rachel Green on "Friends."

July 2017: Holland said he and Zendaya were the "best of friends."

"We are like the best of friends. She's so great and amazing," Holland told People prior to the release of "Homecoming."

"I'm a little worried [about dealing with fame … but] Zendaya is super famous, and she's been through this, and I just call her up and say, 'How do I manage being famous?' I'm very glad I have a friend like her," he added.

July 13, 2017: People magazine reported that Holland and Zendaya were dating, but the stars swiftly denied it

"They started seeing each other while they were filming 'Spider-Man,'" an anonymous source told People. "They've been super careful to keep it private and out of the public eye, but they've gone on vacations with each other, and try and spend as much time as possible with one another."

The actors then took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to joke about the report.

"Wait wait...my favorite is when it says we go on vacations together HA! I haven't been on a vacation in years! hbu @TomHolland1996 ???" Zendaya wrote at the time.

In response, Holland said: "@Zendaya Does the press tour count ??"

August 2017: Zendaya shut down romance speculation during an interview with Variety.

"We are friends," she told Variety. "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."

September 1, 2017: Holland shared a post on Instagram in honor of Zendaya's 21st birthday.

"Thinking about how to get taller 😂 Happy birthday mate. Miss you and I'll have a drink for you. #21stbirthday," he captioned two images of them standing together while in character as Peter and MJ during a photo shoot.

March 4, 2018: They attended the 90th Academy Awards and sat together.

Eagle-eyed fans spotted the duo sitting next to each other during the show, which was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.

May 2018: Holland applauded "queen" Zendaya's Met Gala outfit.

"All hail the queen. Killing it mate 🙌🏻," he captioned a photo of the actor at the event on May 7.

She wore a custom Versace outfit that was inspired by Joan of Arc.

June 1, 2018: Zendaya shared a silly video of Holland in honor of his 22nd birthday.

"Happy birthday loser... @tomholland2013," she captioned a video showing Holland fighting Batalon with a lightsaber before collapsing in laughter.

September 1, 2018: Holland shared a sweet post for Zendaya's birthday.

Holland posted a photo of himself, Zendaya, and a person dressed as Spider-Man with the caption: "Me, myself and the birthday girl. Happy birthday mate - keep killing it and paving the way for the rest of us."

May 9, 2019: Holland shared a photo taken during the press tour for "Spider-Man: Far From Home," but all anyone could talk about was how he tagged Zendaya in the image.

The photo of Holland, Zendaya, and Batalon was taken at Disneyland, and the British actor put Zendaya's Instagram handle tag over his groin.

Zendaya called him out, writing: "I'm assuming because you don't know how to work ig, that's the reasoning behind my name placement."

In response, Holland moved the tag and wrote, "Thanks @zendaya for making me aware of my obvious blunder."

Fans were quick to speculate that it was an intentional move on Holland's part, but Zendaya wrote on X that he's "just Instagram stupid."

Holland later told British GQ that the moment was "so funny" and "was obviously a mistake."

June 1, 2019: Zendaya called Holland a "wonderful person" in a post shared for his 23rd birthday.

"Happy birthday weirdo, thanks for being the wonderful person you are, we're all very lucky to have you and your weirdness," she captioned a selfie with Holland, Batalon, and her assistant, Darnell Appling.

June 2019: Holland and Zendaya said it's bothersome that fans want them to date in real life.

"It's a little annoying, yeah," Holland told Entertainment Tonight Canada.

"But it kinda comes with the territory," Zendaya added. "We kinda know what we signed up for, a little bit."

June 2019: Holland told Elle magazine that he was single.

In the interview, conducted for the July 2019 issue of Elle, the actor said he's "definitely a relationship person."

"I'm not the fleeting type at all; it's not my way of life," he said.

July 2, 2019: "Spider-Man: Far From Home" was released in theaters.

Peter and MJ's relationship blossomed in the sequel when they headed to Europe on a class trip.

Holland described their dynamic to ET Canada as "puppy love," while Zendaya told Entertainment Weekly that it felt like a "natural progression of a 16-year-old's relationship where you have a crush on somebody."

"I think the cool part is that in this he likes her for all of her quirks and the weird things she's into, the things that her whole life have made her a little bit of a loner," she said. "I think he's a little bit of a loner too, and that's why they find that connection."

September 1, 2019: Holland once again wished his costar a happy birthday on social media.

"The birthday girl! 🥳 hope you're having an amazing day," he captioned a photo of the pair that was taken at the Empire State Building during the press tour for "Far From Home."

February 2021: Zendaya praised Holland's performance in the movie "Cherry."

In a departure from his role as a lovable, goofy webslinger, Holland portrayed a drug addict and Army veteran in the film "Cherry."

Zendaya told Esquire that she watched a screener of the film while on set with Holland and was "super impressed."

"It's very hard to watch, because you're like, 'Dang, that's my friend and I'm seeing him every day as Peter Parker.' It's brutal. But he took on the challenge beautifully," she said.

"Once people get to see this version of Tom Holland, what's next?" Zendaya continued. "Sky's the limit."

February 2021: Holland named Zendaya as one of his biggest mentors.

In an interview with Backstage, the actor said that he, Zendaya, and Batalon "all became best mates" when they filmed the first "Spider-Man" movie.

"She was so helpful in the process of my life changing, because not only are you making big films and you're traveling the world, but everyone starts to know who you are. And you have to behave differently," he said. "You have a responsibility to kind of uphold this idea of being a role model to young kids. And, arguably, she's the best at that."

Holland called Zendaya, who rose to fame through her starring role on the Disney Channel show "Shake It Up," as "the perfect person."

"It was so wonderful to have someone like her in my corner, to help me grow through that process," he said.

Holland said that specifically, his costar taught him to be nice about taking photos with fans as he became more popular, which "made that whole process so much nicer."

"Having her as a friend has been so valuable to the success and happiness of my career and life," he said.

March 2021: Holland described Zendaya as "very sensible and humble."

"She's got a good head on her shoulders, and she's very sensible and humble," he told MTV News. "And I think she recognizes how much she's helped me over the years."

He also gushed about Zendaya's performance in the film "Malcolm & Marie," saying: "I was so proud of her, and you could tell that it was a real passion project for her, and she was really, really proud of it when she showed it to us. And it was just really nice to see that side of her."

April 2021: Holland reiterated how valuable Zendaya was in helping him navigate fame and spoke about how "frustrating" it can be when people link him romantically to costars.

Holland told British GQ that he wasn't always warm to fans, mostly because he was taken aback when they asked for a photo or an autograph.

When Zendaya noticed, she gave him advice that "totally changed the way I am able to be more comfortable in public."

The "Chaos Walking" star also said that it's "incredibly frustrating" when people speculate about his love life.

"It's very nerve-racking," he said. "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."

June 1, 2021: Zendaya posted a black-and-white photo of Holland on his birthday.

"Pretty glad you were born...happy birthday @tomholland2013," she captioned the photo, which showed Holland wearing a face mask and clear shield while giving the middle finger.

July 1, 2021: ​​The stars were photographed kissing after years of dating rumors.

On July 2, Page Six published photos that were taken the previous day, showing them kissing in an Audi driven by Holland. Another image showed the stars laughing together inside the car.

They were reportedly photographed at a red light in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, where Zendaya's mother lives. Additional photos posted by Page Six showed Holland and Zendaya walking out of a home with her mom, Claire Stoermer.

Photos later published by TMZ and People showed Holland and Zendaya dining at a Thai eatery the day before they were photographed kissing. According to the Daily Mail, they also spent the 4th of July weekend together in Santa Barbara.

Before this, Holland had last been linked to the actor Nadia Parkes in May 2020, while Zendaya had last been linked to her "Euphoria" costar Jacob Elordi. The two were seen kissing in New York City in February 2020.

July 2021: Zendaya said it was "special" for her and her "Spider-Man" costars to mature together.

"It's pretty special to have grown up all together," she said in an interview for E News' "Daily Pop."

Zendaya said that "it was so much fun" filming the third "Spider-Man" movie. But it's also "kind of bittersweet" because she wasn't sure at the time if they'd get to star in another installment together.

"Normally you do three movies, and that's pretty much it," she said.

Those concerns proved to be unfounded.

September 1, 2021: Holland called Zendaya "My MJ" in a post for her 25th birthday.

"My MJ, have the happiest of birthdays. Gimme a call when your up xxx," he captioned a mirror selfie taken by Zendaya that showed him dressed as the web-slinger, presumably in a trailer on the set of the "Spider-Man."

September 6, 2021: Zendaya's cover for the October 2021 issue of British Vogue was released, and she briefly responded to speculation about her love life.

The actor said she's seen tweets about her starring alongside some of Hollywood's biggest heartthrobs (Zac Efron, Timothée Chalamet, Elordi, and John David Washington, to name a few) but explained that a potential partner has a lot of people in her life to impress.

"My dad, my brothers, it's a whole thing. Good luck to whoever wants to take that on," she said.

In a video that accompanied her cover story, Zendaya called Holland "one of my best friends."

October 2021: Zendaya said she appreciates Holland's work ethic and called him "very charismatic."

In the November 2021 cover of InStyle, released the month prior, Zendaya said that from the perspective of an actor, she appreciates that Holland "really loves being Spider-Man."

"It's a lot of pressure — you take on the role of a superhero wherever you go. To the little kid who walks by, you are Spider-Man," the "Dune" star said. "I think he handled that so well. And seeing him at work, even though he's not a Virgo, he is a perfectionist."

"He's a fun time," Zendaya added of her costar. "Very charismatic, can make anybody feel comfortable and have a good laugh and a good chat."

October 20, 2021: In a viral video for BuzzFeed Celeb, Chalamet called Holland Zendaya's "biggest crush."

The "Dune" costars took a BFF test to see how well they knew each other. During the questionnaire, they were tasked with responding with the answer that they thought their costar would give.

Early in the interview, they were asked to name each other's biggest celebrity crush.

In response, Chalamet said: "Easy, Tom Holland."

Zendaya laughed, then said that she wasn't even sure who Chalamet's celebrity crush was. Perhaps she should've guessed Kylie Jenner.

November 11, 2021: Holland called Zendaya "the most incredible person."

The actor posted a photo of Zendaya at the 2021 CFDA Fashion Awards and congratulated her on becoming the youngest-ever CFDA Fashion Icon Award winner.

"Naaa stop it 😍. An incredible achievement for the most incredible person. Congrats @zendaya and @luxurylaw you guys deserve every bit of this," he captioned the photo, tagging Zendaya and her longtime stylist Law Roach.

November 17, 2021: Holland and Zendaya commented on their relationship going public.

In a cover story for GQ's Men of the Year issue, Holland said that he and Zendaya "sort of felt robbed of our privacy" when paparazzi took photos of them in July.

"One of the downsides of our fame is that privacy isn't really in our control anymore, and a moment that you think is between two people that love each other very much is now a moment that is shared with the entire world," he said.

Zendaya shared similar comments, telling GQ: "It was quite strange and weird and confusing and invasive."

"I think loving someone is a sacred thing and a special thing and something that you want to deal with and go through and experience and enjoy amongst the two people that love each other," she said.

November 29, 2021: They kicked off the global press tour for "No Way Home."

It was a long press tour, but they gave fans plenty of cute moments to obsess over.

December 5, 2021: The actors posed together at a photocall in London for "Spider-Man: No Way Home."

Zendaya wore a Spider-Man-inspired outfit with spider earrings while Holland wore a black leather jacket. She went method for many of her outfits on this press tour.

December 2021: During the press tour for "No Way Home," the couple joked about their height difference and how it affected filming.

"There's a particular stunt — Spider-Man swings us on top of the bridge, we eventually jump off of [it], and he's supposed to gently rest MJ on the bridge and walk away from her," Zendaya explained during an appearance on the "Graham Norton Show."

"Because of our height difference, I would land before him, because my feet land before he does," she said.

"I'm the superhero, I'm supposed to look cool!" Holland added.

The stars said that they decided that Zendaya would catch Holland because she reached the ground before him

"It's so nice to be caught for a change!" Holland said.

During a later interview for SiriusXM, the stars commented on the assumption that the man in the relationship should be taller than the woman.

"It's a stupid assumption," Holland said, with Zendaya explaining that her mom is taller than her dad, and because of that, she never thought it was weird.

December 13, 2021: They attended the LA premiere of "No Way Home" and posed together on the red carpet.

The event took place at the Regency Village Theatre in California.

Holland wore a double-breasted suit, and Zendaya wore a dress with a web print and a plunging neckline.

At one point, while posing for photos, Holland stepped in front of Zendaya to block the cameras while she adjusted the top of her dress.

December 15, 2021: Zendaya called Holland "My Spider-Man" in a post shared ahead of the release of "No Way Home."

She shared two photos of the actor: one of him in his Spidey suit, attached to wires, and another of him as the character as a child.

"My Spider-Man, I'm so proud of you, some things never change and good thing," she wrote, adding a heart emoji and a tag for the actor's Instagram account.

December 17, 2021: Holland and Zendaya reunited as Peter and MJ in "No Way Home."

The film showed the couple navigating their relationship after the whole world found out about Peter's secret identity. The movie also explored the multiverse and brought back popular villains from past live-action "Spider-Man" franchises.

It ended in a heartbreaking fashion, though, with Peter asking Doctor Strange to make everyone forget who Peter Parker is, including MJ and Ned.

January 2022: Zendaya said she and Holland talk "all the time" about the possibility of him appearing on "Euphoria."

"I mean, listen, we've talked about it all the time," Zendaya told E! News. "We're like, 'Let's just sneak him in the back of a shot or something!'"

Zendaya's comments came after Holland said in an interview with IMDb that he'd been "petitioning" to appear on the hit HBO show for "a long time."

Zendaya also told E! News that she's grateful for Holland's support while working on a darker season of "Euphoria."

"He was very supportive, you know," Zendaya said. "This is not an easy season, so I need as much of that as I can get."

June 1, 2022: Zendaya shared a black-and-white photo of her and Holland in honor of his 26th birthday.

"Happiest of birthdays to the one who makes me the happiest <3," she captioned the image on Instagram.

In response, Holland commented on the post with three red heart emojis.

September 1, 2022: They celebrated Zendaya's 26th birthday in NYC.

Paparazzi photos showed the couple dressed casually as they headed to dinner. According to E! News, they were accompanied by Zendaya's mom, Claire Stoermer, and her "Euphoria" costar Hunter Schafer. They reportedly dined at the restaurant MAMO.

September 12, 2022: Zendaya revealed Holland was the first person she texted following her Emmy win.

"Well, I didn't have to text my mom because my mom was already there, she's here tonight, which is very special," Zendaya told E!'s Tim Kash about winning the outstanding lead actress in a drama series Emmy for her role on "Euphoria" during an interview for "Live From E! After Party."

"And I texted my boyfriend," she added.

In a separate interview with Entertainment Tonight on Emmys night, Zendaya explained that she didn't single out Holland during her acceptance speech because "he's part of my loved ones!"

November 30, 2022: Zendaya's mom seemingly reacted to viral rumors that the "Euphoria" star and Holland were engaged.

In late November, Us Weekly published an article citing a source who claimed that Zendaya and Holland were "both in settling-down mode and are absolutely planning for a real future together."

Days later, the verified X account for the fashion retailer PrettyLittleThing shared a post about the actors "reportedly considering getting married and starting a family." The brand cited the Instagram account for the company Pubity, and the tweet amassed more than 16,000 likes.

Then, a few days later, tweets by unverified accounts about an engagement accumulated thousands of likes and retweets. Despite concrete proof, fans online began posting their reactions to the news — some of which went viral.

Zendaya's mom, Claire Stoermer, seemingly reacted to the rumors by posting a screenshot of a note containing the definition of "clickbait" on her Instagram story.

April 1, 2023: The couple attended the opening of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) in Mumbai, India.

They were joined at the event by Law Roach, Zendaya's longtime stylist. Holland and Zendaya walked the carpet separately but were seen holding hands the following day in India.

April to May 2023: Holland and Zendaya were caught hanging out and showing PDA during various outings.

Fans saw the stars having a blast at an Usher concert in late April. Days later, they were seen in San Francisco watching a game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Zendaya's home team of the Golden State Warriors.

Paparazzi also snapped photos of them being affectionate while on a boat ride in Venice, Italy, in May.

June 14, 2023: Holland said he and Zendaya want to keep their relationship "as sacred as possible."

"Our relationship is something that we are incredibly protective of, and we want to keep as sacred as possible," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "We don't think that we owe it to anyone; it's our thing, and it has nothing to do with our careers"

When asked about the secret to his charisma in an interview with BuzzFeed that went live the same day, Holland replied: "I have no rizz whatsoever. I have limited rizz," he said. "I need you to fall in love with me, really, for it to work."

"So, long game, probably making a movie with each other. It definitely helps when the characters are falling in love with one another, you can sort of blur the lines a little bit," Holland added.

In the same interview, Holland said that Zendaya frequently sends him memes. He also named Zendaya as his childhood crush (for real this time).

June 23, 2023: Holland revealed he fixed Zendaya's door early in their relationship, inadvertently confirming that their dynamic turned romantic earlier than people thought.

"Carpentry is something I just really enjoy," Holland told UNILAD in a video segment. "I love it. I've made my mom's kitchen table. I made my mom's office. I've built all the cupboards in my bedroom. I built a little birdhouse for my grandad."

"I fixed my girlfriend's door once really early on in our relationship," he added. "I was hanging out at her house, and her door was broken. I was like, 'I'm gonna fix that door for you.' And now, we're in love."

Holland's comments were reminiscent of a previous story he told during an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in December 2019.

At the time, Holland told the talk show host that he gained woodworking skills after his mom sent him to a carpentry school as a kid.

"I built my mom's kitchen table, I built a little cabinet in her kitchen," he said. "I fixed a door once, which is pretty impressive."

June 27, 2023: Fans took videos of the pair singing "Love on Top" to each other while at Beyoncé in concert in Warsaw, Poland.

Videos of the couple serenading each other while attending Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour went viral. Zendaya's "Euphoria" costar Hunter Schafer was also at the show with the stars.

They attended another show in September, this time in Los Angeles.

July 2023: Holland said that he's "lucky" to be in a relationship with Zendaya.

Holland appeared on "SmartLess," hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett. During the interview, the "Spider-Man" star was asked whether he feels any pressure to be a role model, given his level of fame.

"I understand the responsibility," Holland said. "I'm lucky that I have someone like Zendaya in my life. It's interesting being in a romantic relationship with someone that is in the same boat as you. You can share your experiences and all that sort of stuff. And that's worth its weight in gold."

July 10, 2023: Holland said his relationship is "the thing that I keep most sacred."

"I'm really, really keen to focus on what makes me happy, which is my family, it's my friends, my carpentry, my golf, the charity that my mom runs," Holland said during an interview with Jay Shetty. "That is the stuff that makes me really happy, and that's the stuff that I should protect."

"My relationship is the thing that I keep most sacred," he continued. "I don't talk about it. I try my best to keep it as private as possible. We both feel very strongly that that is the healthiest way for us to move on as a couple. So I do try to keep as removed from [Hollywood] as possible."

August 23, 2023: Zendaya spoke to Elle about guarding her private life.

"Parts of my life, I accept, are going to be public," she said in a September 2023 cover story for Elle. "I can't not be a person and live my life and love the person I love."

"But also, I do have control over what I choose to share," she said. "It's about protecting the peace and letting things be your own, but also not being afraid to exist. You can't hide. That's not fun, either. I am navigating it more than ever now."

December 1, 2023: Holland praised Zendaya's honesty.

"Zendaya is probably the most honest with me," he said in an interview with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation. "Which I love, 'cause you need that."

Holland also said that he received brutal honesty from Robert Downey Jr. and acting advice from Benedict Cumberbatch.

January 12, 2024: Holland assured fans that he and Zendaya didn't break up after she unfollowed everyone on Instagram.

Holland was asked about the rumors when TMZ caught him and his brother Harry in West Hollywood, California.

"No, no, no," Holland said. "Absolutely not."

January 14, 2024: Holland revealed that he and Zendaya occasionally rewatch "Spider-Man: Homecoming" together.

"Zendaya and I will, every now and then, watch 'Spider-Man 1' and reminisce about being 19 and making those movies again," Holland told Extra while on the red carpet at the Critics' Choice Awards.

"I love those movies, and I love savoring those moments, so I try not to watch them as often as I would maybe like to because it's so special. It's such a luxury, such a gift to be able to sit down and sort of relive your youth."

Holland, who was nominated for his performance in the limited series "The Crowded Room," also said that Zendaya watched the show with him during its editing stage.

"I would send her episodes and ask her what she thought, so she definitely has seen it more times than I would have expected her to see it," he said.

February 15, 2024: Holland supported Zendaya at the world premiere of "Dune: Part 2."

Holland didn't walk the red carpet at Leicester Square in London, but video footage showed the "Spider-Man" star and his family watching as Zendaya astonished attendees in a 1995 Mugler robot suit.

The couple was later photographed in all-black outfits, holding hands as they left the film's after-party.

February 2024: Zendaya raved about Holland's charisma while participating in BuzzFeed's puppy interview.

Zendaya was asked which of her "Dune" costars has the most rizz. Instead of naming a costar from the sci-fi franchise, she mentioned Holland.

"I think someone who has beautiful charisma, not on the 'Dune' cast, but personally works for me, is Mr. Tom Holland," she said.

Zendaya explained that she's more shy and reserved, while Holland is "great at just talking to people, getting to know people."

"He's just naturally very good at that," she said. "Whereas for me, I've definitely had to pull it out of me a little bit. He's got that natural gift."

March 17, 2024: The couple attended the BNP Paribas Open together.

Holland and Zendaya were spotted in the stands watching the men's and women's finals at the tennis tournament. The cameras also caught them singing along to Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)."

April 9, 2024: In a cover story for Vogue, Zendaya applauded the way Holland handled his sudden fame when he was cast as Spider-Man.

"We were both very, very young, but my career was already kind of going, and his changed overnight," she said in a cover story for Vogue. "One day you're a kid, and you're at the pub with your friends, and then the next day you're Spider-Man."

"I definitely watched his life kind of change in front of him. But he handled it really beautifully," she added.

Elsewhere in the interview, Zendaya said she "could not be more proud" of Holland's role in the West End revival of "Romeo and Juliet."

"I'm going to try to see as many shows as I possibly can," she said. She was spotted at the theater many times during his run.

April 10, 2024: Holland supported Zendaya at the UK premiere of "Challengers."

The premiere took place at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square. Although Holland skipped walking the carpet, fans saw him and Zendaya waving at each other from a distance and greeting each other inside the theater.

October to November 2024: Holland and Zendaya were cast in "The Odyssey" together.

Holland was reported to be part of Christopher Nolan's next film — at that point, it was still unknown what it was — on October 21, 2024, by Deadline.

On November 8, Deadline reported that Zendaya and Anne Hathaway had been added to the cast.

On December 23, the Universal Pictures X account confirmed that Nolan's next film would, in fact, be "The Odyssey," and called it a "mythic action epic."

December 2024: Holland and Zendaya got engaged.

It was later confirmed that Holland had proposed to Zendaya during the holidays.

January 5 and 6, 2025: Zendaya debuted her ring at the Golden Globes, and a source confirmed their engagement.

The "Challengers" star walked the red carpet of the 2025 Golden Globes wearing a conspicuously large diamond ring on her left ring finger, but stopped short of confirming that she was engaged.

People and TMZ reported the next morning that the two were affianced.

"He's always been crazy about her. He always knew she was the one. They have something very special," a source told People.

The TMZ report said he had popped the question between Christmas and New Year's.

January 8, 2025: Tattoo artist Lily Jarnryd confirmed she gave the couple matching tattoos before their engagement.

Jarnryd told People that she gave Holland a small "Z" tattoo on his ribcage, while Zendaya got a "T" in the same spot.

"They were lovely to meet and it was a lot of fun," she said.

March 31, 2025: "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" was announced.

After months of reported production delays, script rewrites, and more, "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" was confirmed during Sony's panel at CinemaCon.

Holland sent a video message from the set of "The Odyssey," saying, "I know we left you with a massive cliff hanger at the end of 'No Way Home,' so 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' is a fresh start. It is exactly that. That's all I can say."

June 20, 2025: Zendaya was confirmed to star in "Brand New Day" with Holland.

Zendaya and Jacob Batalon were confirmed as part of the cast in a Hollywood Reporter report, which also confirmed Jon Bernthal would make his first leap to the big screen as Frank Castle, aka the Punisher. However, with her commitments to "Euphoria," "Dune: Part Three," and "The Odyssey," it was unclear how big her role would be.

September 29, 2025: Holland confirmed they were engaged.

During a panel at The Beverage Forum, an attendee told Holland that he and his daughter had gotten to meet Holland's "girlfriend." While laughing, Holland corrected him, saying, "Fiancée."

March 1, 2026: Law Roach, the couple's stylist, said that the wedding "already happened."

While walking the red carpet for the 2026 Actor Awards, Roach was asked when the Tomdaya wedding was.

He responded that we "missed it," and added, "The wedding has already happened," per CNN.

Months later, during a July 2026 interview with Complex, Roach was asked whether the two were planning a more public ceremony.

"I think that people should congratulate them. It's two young, beautiful, successful people that are in love, and they had a private wedding, and they got away with it," he added.

March 21, 2026: Holland raved about "The Drama," starring Zendaya.

Holland posted the movie's poster on his Instagram, writing, "I honestly couldn't be more excited for you to see this movie and believe me when I say it's gonna floor you. Get your tickets now!"

June 16, 2026: Holland seemingly confirmed that the two had married.

In a cover story with Esquire, Holland told the outlet that, after some AI photos of their "wedding" caused confusion with fans, he didn't really have to send clarifying texts to his family "because they were all there."

"That's all you'll get on that," he said.

July 2026: Zendaya and Holland began worldwide press tours for both "The Odyssey" and "Spider-Man: Brand New Day."

The combined press tours for "The Odyssey" and "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" have been a gold mine for fans of Holland and Zendaya's relationship.

During an interview with People, Holland revealed that Zendaya said she'd dump him if he didn't make time to play Telemachus.

"We had 'Spider-Man' that was literally scheduled to go the same day that we would start shooting," Holland said. "Z said: I'll leave you if you don't do 'The Odyssey.'"

Meanwhile, Zendaya said during an appearance on the YouTuber HugoDécrypte's channel that she admired Holland's strength of character.

"You're a big stickler for respect and kindness," she said to him.

July 16, 2026: Zendaya shared that her husband was able to hint that Christopher Nolan wanted to cast her as Athena.

During an appearance on "The Tonight Show," Zendaya shared the story about how Holland gave her a heads up that Nolan wanted her in "The Odyssey."

"He went off to his meeting, and when he came home, I was like, 'Okay, tell me all about, how was he? What was he like?'" she said. All that Holland said was that she should reread the script, but with Athena in mind.

"I freaked out, I was so grateful," she said. "And he got to be the one to tell me. It was so special." She also called herself Holland's "biggest fan."

July 17, 2026: "The Odyssey" was released.

"The Odyssey" quickly smashed box-office records and is already well on its way toward grossing $1 billion dollars, making Holland and Zendaya the king and queen of the summer blockbuster.

July 2026: Holland called Zendaya his wife in various interviews.

In an appearance on "Dish," Holland was asked by host Nick Grimshaw who he'd want to bring on a vacation to Greece. "I think probably my wife would be pretty good," he responded.

During another interview with Wired, Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Holland, and Robert Pattinson answered the internet's questions about "The Odyssey." When asked if Athena (played by Zendaya) was romantically interested in Damon's Odysseus, Holland quipped, "No, because she's married to me."

However, Holland was a bit cagey when a child asked if he was married during an appearance on "Celebrity Substitute," joking that the kids haven't been media-trained.

July 31, 2026: "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" was released.

"Spider-Man: Brand New Day" has grossed $1.05 billion and counting in less than a week. It grossed $360 million domestically in its opening weekend, giving it the highest domestic opening of all time.

For now, the two have earned some much-needed rest. %!s()

The latest milestone builds on the film’s epic theatrical run, which also includes the biggest Tuesday ever at the domestic box office with $42 million, overtaking 2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” with $39 million. “Brand New Day” delivered the highest-grossing Monday with $47 million, besting the high record set by 2018’s “Black Panther” with $40 million.

This “Spider-Man” adaptation is also the fastest film to notch $400 million in North America, taking just four days, and it’s the second-quickest movie to surpassing $1 billion, doing so in just six days. Only 2019’s Marvel mashup “Avengers: Endgame,” with a mind-boggling $1.2 billion worldwide in three days, got there faster. That’s on top of “Brand New Day” securing the biggest domestic debut in box office history with $360 million, as well as the second-largest global debut of all time with $932 million.

“So I guess movies aren’t dead after all?” Tom Rothman, chairman of Sony Pictures, quipped on the Sunday of opening weekend.

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige credits the ever-enduring appeal of Spider-Man, as well as the actor who has donned the Spandex in four solo adventures, for the heroic box office success of “Brand New Day.”

“People can write about changing tastes, but as characters that grow and evolve through the decades, there are none better than the Marvel characters — and none better than Peter Parker,” Feige said on Monday morning. “When you find an actor like Tom Holland to bring that character to life, it is the magic formula.” %!s()

Posters for the film had previously been displayed on the London Underground and on billboards across the U.K., prompting 30 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The matter was highlighted on social media back in April by BBC journalist and broadcaster Samira Ahmed, who said she had personally submitted a complaint to the ASA.

Numerous complaints stated that the poster's imagery was too graphic, and displayed what looked like a dead and mummified child. The image showsed a grey-skinned girl with one eye partially closed, wrapped in ancient bandages. A tagline stated: "Some Things Are Meant to Stay Buried."

Defending the posters, Warner Bros. stated that the girl was actually alive — or, technically, a "living mummy" (which sounds to me more like a class of undead?). Either way, Warner Bros. also argued that the poster showed the girl in a neutral facial expression, and did not depict violence.

The ASA, however, was having none of it. "Because the figure had recognizable human features, we considered that viewers were likely to understand it as a realistic depiction of a dead child," it wrote. "We therefore concluded that the ads were unsuitable for outdoor display and therefore breached the code."

Warner Bros. was also found to have broken a pledge to not place the advert within 100m of a school, as it could be seen directly from a nursery for small children.

Just submitted my complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority about this poster ad at tube stations. Why is there so little consideration of the impact of such images on children? (And one might add, on bereaved parents). pic.twitter.com/gjwca6YDdX

— Samira Ahmed (@SamiraAhmedUK) April 15, 2026

Other complaints about The Mummy's advertising campaign were not upheld, however, including concerns around a TV commercial and similar online version. The ASA found that the advert had been targeted to air after 7.30pm, when young children were less likely to see it. The authority also dismissed additional concerns that the image would be unecessarily distressing to complainants who had lost a child themselves, or who were concerned about the child's depiction in the context of ongoing global conflicts.

Following the ASA's decision, the poster can no longer be displayed publicly in its current form. The authority has also instructed Warner Bros. "to ensure that future marketing that was likely to cause fear or distress to young children did not appear where they were likely to see it."

IGN’s Lee Cronin’s The Mummy Review returned a 7/10. We said: "As ugly as it is amusing, Lee Cronin's The Mummy takes the kind of tonal swings you rarely see from a Hollywood studio."

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social %!s()

Nintendo hired that man!

Not literally. There is no man, or woman, or anyone for that matter. Most cries of “hire this man” are sarcastic, even scornful. The notion of an Unreal Engine Mario with spotty framepacing and shader compilation screens runs contrary to everything we know about the company that consistently bucks modernity and blazes its own trail. Nintendo would never chase such stale industry standards. You might as well have Peach on the tactical comms.

The jokes have been landing a little differently lately. Star Fox on Switch 2 is a stellar remake of a game that’s been remade several times since 1993, full of lens flare and lush skyboxes and physically-based feathers rendered with the full triple-A toolkit. Meanwhile, Ocarina of Time’s second remake appears to chase a similarly contemporary sheen. Nintendo is still no stranger to charming, bespoke bangers, but the remake slate, the Switch 2’s less-than-inspired existence, and Shigeru Miyamoto’s public embrace of the Mario Galaxy Movie’s mid-ness all raise a question that a lot of Nintendo fans would rather not sit with too long. Has Nintendo lost its soul?

What is Nintendo’s soul? Its sauce, its rizz, the secret ingredient that let it run circles around competitors with triple the teraflops? Soul, for Nintendo, has always meant the same thing: making a decision that could only have come from them. So why does it feel, maybe for the first time, that Nintendo is going with the flow?

This is not a new argument. Nintendo already had it – with itself – twenty-six years ago.

“Where Is My Mature Zelda?”

August 24th, 2000, Chiba, Japan: Nintendo opens the doors of its annual “Spaceworld” exhibition, the company’s own version of E3 where it’s set to debut the next generation of hardware after the commercially disappointing N64.

The reveal of the Gamecube, a teeny purple box with a handle, and its accompanying controller with bean-shaped buttons, oozed with the kind of quirky character we’d come to expect from the big N, but the software on display was a very different beast. The now-legendary Spaceworld 2000 demo reel consists of clips designed to dazzle turn-of-the-millenium game journalists with the pure graphical power many felt had been lacking in the prior generation. Amidst a litter of dancing Meowths and myriad Marios, sandwiched between a squashed and stretched Luigi and Samus Aran sprinting down an exploding hallway, was 12 seconds that would spark one of the biggest fan outcries in gaming history.

Finally, Nintendo would have a cool, realistic Zelda to silence the lunchroom slander and BBS bullies. At long last, Nintendo could compete graphically with contemporaries like Sony’s PlayStation 2 and Microsoft’s recently unveiled Xbox. The company would be safe from irrelevancy, spared the sad fate of Sega’s Dreamcast that just couldn’t keep up with the Final Fantasies and Metal Gear Solids out there. This was considered an unusual move for Nintendo even at the time. Covering the event, IGN’s own Fran Mirabella remarked:

“In a very un-Nintendo style it showed how great the games could graphically be, not how well they might play... In fact, the whole presentation was almost totally devoid of Nintendo's true vision. The innovative company has said time and time again that great graphics mean nothing, and it can only succeed if it offers the world a new way of looking at games.”

Those fears would prove unfounded just a year later. The graphical demo was just that, a quick hit of hype never intended to be a real game, though that didn’t stop console warriors from salivating at the thought of bump-mapped Biggorons and Bongo Bongos.

In a very un-Nintendo style it showed how great the games could graphically be, not how well they might play.“

When the actual GameCube Zelda was revealed at Spaceworld 2001, the reception to the cartoonish, child Link and his brightly colored, highly saturated world was nothing short of volcanic, an embarrassing epidemic of pants-wetting and puerile anger towards “Celda.” Message boards across the web raged: “Where is my mature Zelda?” “They made Zelda look like a puppet show for 5 year olds!” “I want a deep plot and REALISTIC graphics!” “I thought this game would look so good my eyes would bleed!”

Hindsight has been kind to Celda, now known and beloved as Wind Waker. The art style that sent forums into fits has endured as a shining example of Nintendo’s bold, visionary, trend-bucking spirit, while the Spaceworld demo that was so breathtaking in 2000, with its plasticky character models and sludgy brown aesthetic, has aged like Lon Lon Milk. Even when Nintendo gave the “hire this man” crowd exactly what they wanted with Twilight Princess, the solidly mid sequel remains lower on the tier list than the Zelda games the company made on its own terms.

It’s almost like Nintendo knows what it’s doing. After all, it’s been doing it for a long time, and the philosophy is no accident. It was, in fact, a deliberate, named decision that allowed Nintendo’s soul to emerge.

Lateral Thinking

Neither Wind Waker nor the rest of the GameCube’s very admirable library could save the quirky little console. It was already falling behind competitors when Satoru Iwata became president of Nintendo in May of 2002. A master programmer who knew his way around hardware, Iwata could see which way the industry was headed and wanted none of it. The GameCube generation would be the last in which Nintendo tried to hang with the big dogs in the race for graphical fidelity. Competing was expensive, bloating development costs and eating into margins– and unlike Sony and Microsoft that sell cutting-edge hardware at a loss, Nintendo turns a profit on every console it ships.

The result was the Wii, a paradigm-shifting revolution in gaming that couldn’t even dream of cracking 720p while games like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto ignited an triple-A explosion that severely graphicsmogged Nintendo’s seventh-generation console. The games that made the Wii worth owning were bespoke, designed from the ground up around the capabilities of the cost-efficient hardware in that clean, tiny white box. They didn’t look like the other games on the shelf because they couldn’t, outside of rough-looking compromised ports with little to offer beyond gratuitous waggle.

The Wii, and the equally humble-under-the hood DS, looked and played like toys, but their astronomical success proved Iwata’s strategy beyond any reasonable argument. He was running a playbook established 15 years before by Gunpei Yokoi, the brilliant inventor who saw salarymen goofing off with calculators on the train and used the same components to invent the concept of handheld gaming.

Yokoi called his philosophy “Lateral Thinking with Withered Technology,” making the most of cheap, well-explored, underpowered components through innovation in design and experience rather than raw performance. It’s evident in the deliberate simplicity of Yokoi’s Game and Watch and Game Boy, whose monochromatic screen traded color for a lower price tag and 30 hours of double-A battery life. Iwata decided to scale Yokoi’s doctrine to home consoles, creating a lane for Nintendo to occupy all its own.

Hardware limits heavily informed the design of Nintendo’s software, and rather than sheepishly hiding behind its modest specs, the company used them as permission to dazzle with wit and craftsmanship and soul. You already know what it looks like.

Even the company’s more frustrating business decisions have a handmade, idiosyncratic quality that distinguishes them from generic corporate extraction.“

Soul is responding to the pre-rendered muscle of Donkey Kong Country with the crayon scribbles of Yoshi’s Island. Soul is turning to cardboard cutouts to compete with the operatic excesses of Cloud Strife and Squall, or forgoing the crowd-pleasing path of a hyper-realistic Hero of Time and delighting us with Toon Link instead. Soul isn’t always enough, but Nintendo’s long history of flops from the Satellaview to the Wii U are still imbued with the undeniable spirit of a company that’s willing to put itself out there and try something different.

Even the company’s more frustrating business decisions have a handmade, idiosyncratic quality that distinguishes them from generic corporate extraction. Moves like sticking with cartridges way past the point of reason, charging $40 for DLC in the form of a plastic figurine, and locking voice chat and game soundtracks behind a standalone app were all kind of insane, but recognizably, soulfully, Nintendo insane. Frankly, we wouldn’t have it any other way, even if our wallets say otherwise. Nintendo is gonna Nintendo, and that’s worked out really well for more than a century. Lately, however, Nintendo’s been doing a little too much of what Nintendon’t.

Nintendon’t

Nintendo has been so successful for so long that it’s almost hard to remember its last flop era, even if it was only about 13 years ago. The Wii U, a funky, dual screen concept that confused retailers and alienated the casual audience cultivated by the Wii, was an unmitigated disaster, and Nintendo, true to form, didn’t waste any time on a new pivot. The withered technology ethos wasn’t the problem, as the Switch would prove with extreme prejudice, but it was clearly time to find more mainstream ways to make money. The tightly-controlled walled garden that had generated so much of the company’s mystique and aura would be opened wide to licensors, theme parks, toys, and movies, and things wouldn’t really be the same afterwards.

This isn’t entirely a bad thing. Super Nintendo World is fantastic, we’ll never say no to cool Lego sets, and it was nice to have a Mario Bros. movie that didn’t traumatize the people making or viewing it. Still, the first cracks appeared almost immediately: the film that Nintendo, with all its creative capital and institutional weirdness, chose to sign off on was a shallow, by-the-numbers exercise in focus-grouped IP exploitation from the folks who made Minions. You’d think the company behind utterly unique, out-of-left-field ideas like Pikmin and WarioWare could be a little more creative than Chris Pratt.

But that’s movies. Surely the games would be different. Surely Nintendo would follow up the runaway success of the Switch with another seismic piece of hardware to fly in the face of the futile quest for graphical perfection. Its answer was the Switch 2: the Switch, with more graphics. While not unappreciated given the dismal resolution and framerates of the original console, running the same playbook with some extra juice under the hood was a perfectly whelming decision from a company we’re used to seeing dazzle us. It’s exactly what everyone else does.

The software slate tells a similarly milquetoast tale. Switch 2 launched with Mario Kart World as the flagship title, a cromulent enough entry in the stalwart racing series that nonetheless left much of the fanbase wanting more– especially given its historic $80 price tag, well before GTA 6 came under fire for doing the same. The audacity of charging so much for more Mario Kart is a testament to how much grace fans are willing to give Nintendo as long as the company holds up its end of the bargain and delivers the good stuff. But is it doing that?

The Switch 2 is, by all commercial metrics, a massive success, and Nintendo is still delivering great games on the regular. Surprise hits like Tomodachi Life and Donkey Kong Bananza are still bursting with the company’s trademark magic, but it seems like for every soulful smash there’s either a misfire like Metroid Prime 4, or, well, not a whole lot. GBA Pokemon roms sold at full price and paid upgrades for the back catalog. It’s the sound of a satiated company happy to tread water.

If Miyamoto-san is willing to go to bat for mediocrity, what does that say about Nintendo?“

And Nintendo is right to be happy. The folks working there certainly are, with an impossibly low turnover rate in an industry that’s infamous for mass layoffs. The people are what make Nintendo Nintendo, and the accumulated wisdom and expertise from decades in the development trenches is impossible to recreate elsewhere. But those people are getting older, and many of the icons of Nintendo’s golden age are entering into a well-earned retirement. Some, like Iwata, are tragically no longer with us, and the ones who stayed might be growing a little checked-out.

Even Shigeru Miyamoto himself, the visionary genius behind some of the most joyful, inventive games ever made has settled into a sort of a ceremonial emeritus role. And let's be clear, the man who has given us so much owes us nothing and deserves to ride off into the sunset. That said, it was a little weird to see him caping so hard for the Mario Galaxy movie. He almost seemed defensive, taking shots at film critics for being so negative on the utterly routine sequel. If Miyamoto-san is willing to go to bat for mediocrity, what does that say about Nintendo?

There’s still plenty of talent willing to take risks, from a rising new generation of developers cutting their teeth on fun new series like Splatoon to legends like Masahiro Sakurai pouring his considerable creative energy into an awesome and entirely unasked-for Kirby Air Riders sequel before being sent back to the Smash Bros. mines.

What happens when the people at Nintendo who know how to make something weird and mean it are retired, uninterested, or otherwise occupied? The traditional move in gaming is to fall back on tried and tested IP. And what do you do when you’ve got some of the most valuable IP in human history and no particular vision for what to do with it?

You remake it.

Sorry to Jet

Star Fox on Switch 2 is an awesome game. It’s gorgeous, runs flawlessly on the still-somewhat underpowered hardware, and feels more or less exactly like playing the original, just with some extra cutscenes that all take place with immaculate anthropomorphic character models loafing about in one grey room. It’s an excellent introduction to the franchise, largely because it was the introduction to the franchise. Behind the bells and whistles, Star Fox 2026 is largely the same game as the 1993 Super FX shooter and exactly the same game as the 1997 Nintendo 64 classic that brought force feedback to the masses. The only difference is that now it looks and sounds like every other game out there.

Gone are the unhinged line-readings in bizarre regional accents delivered via the distorted urgency of the N64’s audio compression that became vocal stims for an entire generation, replaced with serviceable modern actors reciting sanded-down dialogue like they don’t want to wake up their parents in the next room. The radio squeal and static have been swapped for sterile HD competency. The visuals are stunning but lack readable clarity, and the bosses have lost the crispy hit feedback that let you know your shots were landing. For all the world, Star Fox feels like Nintendo hired that man, but that man was missing that extra spark that made Star Fox 64 hit different.

It’s good. Great, even. But is it special? Is it soulful? Does it have the juice? Compare it to the handmade models used in the original promotional materials, these fuzzy, ghastly marionettes inspired by low-budget British children’s programmes. Or, if you want something a little less nightmare inducing, the team’s dynamic anime makeover from the Mario Galaxy movie could have been an interesting jumping-off point. There were a lot of ways the abstract polygons of Andross’s armada could have been interpreted, but Nintendo went for the safest one. Maybe it was intentional, a way to get newcomer Velan Studios up to speed on Star Fox before letting them loose to carve their own more interesting path. There’s a time and a place for training wheels, and Star Fox is a fine franchise to earn your sea legs on. Zelda is another matter entirely.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time is arguably the most celebrated game in the most celebrated franchise ever, and it looks to be headed somewhere similar. It’s too early to render a full verdict, but the visual direction reads like a company more interested in validating the Spaceworld 2000 crowd than telling them to pound sand and giving them greatness they didn’t even know they wanted.

Nintendo has gone back to this well before. The 3DS version of Ocarina was more of an HD port than a full remake, and even that lost some of the immaculate original art style in the translation, especially when it came to Majora’s Mask. But this is something else entirely. Nintendo redoing Ocarina of Time with the “mature,” “realistic” graphics gamers pine for is like Hayao Miyazaki remaking Princess Mononoke in live action on a greenscreen. It’s not wrong, exactly, it’s just the most commercially legible version of the thing with the highest profit upside, a path Nintendo normally refuses to take.

Ocarina isn’t alone in the pipeline. Nintendo’s near-future slate is notably light on original titles, and more sacred cows are undoubtedly queued up for the same modern makeover. At what point do you stop celebrating your back catalog and start fracking it for guaranteed returns? It’s a fine line, and it doesn’t have to be this way.

Remakes are not your enemy. Remakes can absolutely have soul, they just need something to say. Capcom is running back the entire Resident Evil series with expanded games rebuilt from the ground up in ways that enhance the source material without xeroxing it, earning them a ton of money and an impeccable reputation among fans and critics alike. Atlus is revitalizing past Persona games with the confident visual flourish it developed after the phenomenon that was P5, using its newfound swagger to embellish the classic RPGs with modern, unmistakable style. Both approaches require a genuine point of view about what the thing is and what it could be. The best remakes come with an opinion about the original, they have someone in the room who cares enough to have an argument about it. Nintendo used to be that company. We’ll know soon enough if it still is. %!s()