Tom Holland and Zendaya have appeared together in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but never in Sam Levinson’s Emmy-winning series Euphoria. Or did that actually happen in a subtle way that viewers may have missed? Fans certainly thought that last week’s episode may have featured a surprise Tom Holland cameo after an "episode still" went viral. Unfortunately for Euphoriacs (claiming copyright on that name now), it seems to have been an effective dupe that continues to spread.
During the performance of Lexi’s play on last week’s Euphoria, some supposedly eagle-eyed fans claimed to have spotted the HBO star Zendaya’s boyfriend Tom Holland in the audience as a friendly neighborhood theatre-goer. Unfortunately, while the screenshot that made the rounds on Tik Tok was pretty darn convincing, it wasn't wholly legit. Take a look:
@itsolivia ♬ оригинальный звук - Scout Edit
As the Internet promptly exploded, fans immediately began to investigate the so-called cameo. In a bit of sleuthing worthy of Sherlock Holmes' HBO-obsessed younger cousin, fans discovered that the screenshot with Tom Holland’s face was actually a doctored image. How do they know? Aside from the fact that no one on the production team of Euphoria has confirmed or even hinted at the Spider-Man star’s involvement, a fan site presented an image from the actual scene in question - and Tom Holland is conspicuously absent. Check it out:
Tom Holland’s upper body was clearly inserted in the upper left-hand corner of this episode screenshot. In the image of the real scene from the show above, taken from Euphoria star Jacob Elordi’s Instagram story, Tom Holland’s seat is empty. Et tu, Internet troll? Why would anyone knowingly explode the fandom like this?
It’s a shame that it's not real, obviously, as some people really had their hopes up. One Twitter user was moved to faux happy tears by Tom Holland’s performance, as it were:
tom holland in euphoria 😭 pic.twitter.com/VcCkcRmb0mFebruary 21, 2022
Other fans thought that Tom Holland should have used his Lip Sync Battle dancing skills to slay Ethan’s epic shirtless dance number:
Tom Holland would’ve ate this scene #EUPHORIA pic.twitter.com/sPSaSF9A5PFebruary 21, 2022
While the photo doctoring is far more obvious in hindsight, it’s totally believable that Tom Holland could have popped up on the show incognito. Zendaya had talked about the possibility of Tom Holland guest-starring or even making a cameo appearance, and the Spider-Man star has publicly professed his love for the show and his desire to support his girlfriend.
Tom Holland has also been known to regularly visit Zendaya while she’s trekking through Euphoria’s infamously long shooting days, so it would have been easy for him to sneak into the back row of the East Highland High School auditorium. Alas, it looks like Rue Bennett and Peter Parker will have to cross paths in another timeline in the multiverse. Or maybe in the Season 2 finale?
You may not be able to catch Tom Holland on Euphoria (yet), but you can catch up with the webslinger in Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home at your local cinema or on March 22 when it hits Blu-ray and digital. To hang more with Zendaya, you can watch the first seven episodes of Season 2 of Euphoria now with your HBO Max subscription. The season finale will air on Sunday, February 27 at 8pm EST on HBO. And head to our 2022 TV premiere schedule to see when and where other shows will be popping up soon.
