Spider-Man fans think Zendaya may be using her red carpet fashion to hint at what could be next for MJ in the franchise.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is already off to a massive start at the box office. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film pulled in an impressive $168 million on Friday alone (July 29). This figure represented the biggest opening day of all time at the domestic box office, surpassing Avengers: Endgame’s previous record of $157 million.
It is now expected to bring in around $325 million across the weekend, putting it among Marvel’s biggest domestic debuts. In fact, rival box office estimates suggest the film could potentially surpass Avengers: Endgame’s opening weekend record of $357.1 million, which would make Brand New Day the highest-grossing domestic opening of all time.
As the cast promoted Brand New Day, Zendaya once again drew attention for her style choices, and some fans believe those outfits may have been telling a story of their own. Throughout the global press tour, which took the actress from Spain and Italy to Germany, France, China, Mexico, and New York, she delivered one standout red carpet look after another.
Her longtime stylist, Law Roach, is well known for so-called ‘method dressing’ — a red carpet approach where stars wear looks inspired by the films and characters they are promoting.
A famous recent example came from Margot Robbie, who wore a series of pink, Barbie-inspired outfits while promoting Barbie in 2023.
For Brand New Day — which currently holds a 90 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and a 98 percent audience score — Zendaya has mostly stepped out in black and other dark shades, alongside a number of spider-like looks. The duo delivered memorable fashion moments throughout the tour, including archival runway pieces and even a vintage Spider-Man T-shirt that Roach sourced from eBay for just $34.99.
That has led some fans to wonder if the styling is tied to mourning, given black’s traditional association with grief.
One of the rare times Zendaya wore white during the press tour was while in China, and THR notes that white is often associated with mourning there.
With that in mind, some viewers think the fashion may be foreshadowing a tragic future for MJ in Brand New Day.
Some fans have compared the theory to another recent press tour example.
Millie Bobby Brown took a similar approach in the lead up to the Stranger Things finale since (spoiler alert) her character Eleven dies.
“I wore black the whole press tour because I was mourning her,” she told Jimmy Fallon.
There is also another theory doing the rounds: that Zendaya’s dark red carpet looks could connect to MJ’s comic-book link to Venom.
In Al Ewing and Carlos Gómez’s Marvel comic book series All-New Venom, MJ becomes the new host of Venom.
Roach appeared to tease that possibility in an interview with Variety, saying one of Zendaya’s dresses was ‘abstract way to present the spider’.
The stylist also added:
“You know, in our minds, this metamorphosis of this woman into this thing.”
For the Los Angeles premiere, Zendaya wore a black satin Ashi Studio couture gown with a sweeping architectural train. The dress featured wispy antennae rising from the bodice and was paired with custom Christian Louboutin pumps featuring spider embellishments and Boucheron jewelry, completing the intricate spider-inspired look.
Zendaya has also been directly asked whether her outfits on this latest press run were a case of method dressing, though she stopped short of giving a straight answer.
“I think you just have to go to the movie and see for yourself,” she teased to Associated Press.
“Of course we love to play the very vivid storytelling. We just like to have fun and extend that storytelling through the press tour.”
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now playing in theaters worldwide.