Zendaya Is the Film Blockbuster Queen of 2026 — But Familiarity Can Breed Contempt

Hollywood has anointed a new star, and her name is Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman, aka Zendaya. If you are anywhere near a magazine cover, late-night talk show or Instagram reel over the next few months, you will be treated to the actress and occasional singer promoting herself, and the films in which she is starring, Zendaya, 29, will soon be completely inescapable — after a couple of years, thanks to film studio scheduling quirks in which she hasn’t starred in any movies, she has four major films being released this year.2026 represents perhaps the greatest exposure that not only Zendaya, but any star of today, might ever expect. In less than nine months she has two franchise sequels, in the form of “Dune: Part Three” and “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” as well as the eagerly awaited Christopher Nolan adaptation of “The Odyssey” and, first up, being released this Friday, the much-anticipated relationship film “The Drama,” in which she co-stars with Robert Pattinson, who will also be appearing alongside her in Dune: Part Three” and “The Odyssey.” Until the end of this year, we may as well accept that it is Zendaya’s world and that we merely live in it.Perhaps even more excitingly for her fans, the third series of “Euphoria,” the edgy HBO teen drama in which she plays the central role, also returns this year. Zendaya is appearing alongside Sydney Sweeney and Jacob Elordi — another two actors who have seen their stars rise considerably since the last season aired in 2022 — and the levels of hype for Sam Levinson’s show are as near-hysterical as you might expect.Although hers has hardly been an overnight rise to stardom — she made her screen debut in in the Disney Channel sitcom “Shake It Up,” and has appeared in everything from “The Greatest Showman” to “Dancing With The Stars” in recent years — the past few years have seen her make a concerted bid not just for fame, but the kind of stratospheric status that means that her monomynic name will, surely, join the likes of Beyoncé and Madonna in the next few years.Zendaya attends the Oscars in 2024. Aliah Anderson/Getty ImagesZendaya, then, is having a moment. But in truth she has been a significant film industry player ever since she won two Emmys and a Golden Globe for “Euphoria,” in which she plays the troubled, sexually ambiguous drug addict Rue Bennett. It may have been a role consciously chosen to distance her from her Disney past, and it succeeded, at a time when, simultaneously, she was playing the love interest Michelle, aka “MJ,” in the “Spider-Man” pictures. Those wholesome films were a million miles away from the cultish edginess of “Euphoria,” but she managed to meet her future fiancé (and, now, rumored husband) and perennial co-star Tom Holland while filming the blockbuster.Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney pictured in 2019. Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesAs far as Zendaya is concerned, life has certainly not imitated art. Despite her sexually charged performance in “Euphoria,” and her similarly erotically-focused work in Luca Guadagnino’s tennis threesome drama “Challengers,” she has shied away from the hyper-sexualized pronouncements and photoshoots of her “Euphoria” co-star Ms. Sweeney. Not for her a range of lingerie or provocative advertisements wearing jeans.Instead, Zendaya has expressed the kind of soft feminist and liberal views that are de rigueur in contemporary Hollywood (again contrasting Ms. Sweeney, a registered Republican) but has never attempted to jeopardize a lucrative and successful career by expressing any controversial views in public. It is as if she is attempting to somehow triangulate, and keep as many potential audience quadrants on side, that she remarked, of her vegetarianism, “My main reason for being a vegetarian is that I’m an animal lover — definitely not because I love vegetables”.All perfectly commendable, and it should be noted that the actress is a versatile and consistently fascinating presence on screen, imbued with charisma, range, and humor. It is not hard to see why she is so in demand by casting directors and studios alike. Anyone who has seen her in the “Dune” pictures will know that she can bring the same qualities of vulnerability to those — a rare attribute in a blockbuster — that she does to “Euphoria,” meaning that she is capable of playing characters rather than archetypes. (You would struggle to say the same of Ms. Sweeney.) Zendaya attends the premiere of ‘The Drama’ earlier this month. Phillip Faraone/Getty ImagesBut as ever with these things, there is a catch, and it is a significant one. Zendaya might be appearing in four high-profile films by the end of 2026, being released by four different Hollywood studios, no less. But the downside of ubiquity is that there is a sense of over-familiarity with stars, and this, in turn, can lead to a literal feeling of déjà vu. If you were a fan of British costume drama a few years ago, for instance, you might have become weary of the spectacle of Lily James coming into shot, crinoline-clad and lovelorn. After appearing in too much, too quickly on screens, Ms. James has taken what amounts to a step back in her career and is far from the prolific presence she once was.Nor is this limited to women, either. Jude Law made so many films a few decades ago that he became a target of Chris Rock’s mockery at the 2005 Oscars — “if you want Tom Cruise, and all you can get is Jude Law…I didn’t say Jude Law was in bad movies, I just said he’s in every movie” — and, perhaps even more embarrassingly, was then defended by a grim-faced Sean Penn (bothering to show up at the Academy Awards that time), who declared “Jude Law is our of most talented actors”. And, he could have gone on to say, one of the busiest, too.Zendaya is not likely to face public mockery any time soon. A savvy and talented actress, and a woman who has avoided overt reputational damage, it is to be hoped that she is excellent in all the pictures she appears in this year (yes, even “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”) But after the hype dies down, she would be well advised to take a break in 2027. A look ahead shows the only film she will be appearing in then is “Shrek 5,” and she might want to keep it at that.But her “Dune” director Denis Villeneuve will be casting the new James Bond film that he is directing soon. Should Mr. Villeneuve be looking for a female lead who matches up to whoever the latest 007 is, and who will bring a hefty dose of star power to yet another franchise, then retirement doesn’t beckon for Zendaya just yet.

Zendaya Is the Film Blockbuster Queen of 2026 — But Familiarity Can Breed Contempt

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