Tom Holland and Zendaya gush about Insomniac's Spider-Man games, get invited to the studio

Tom Holland and Zendaya are huge fans of Insomniac Games' Spider-Man titles, and the excitement has now spilled beyond interviews into real-world outreach. In a recent chat with IGN Benelux, the Spider-Man: Brand New Day stars said they love the games and described what it felt like when Zendaya struggled with a tough Marvel's Spider-Man 2 section. The response was immediate enough that Insomniac Games extended an invitation for the pair to come visit the studio, turning a celebrity endorsement moment into a potential studio-tour and marketing catalyst.

Holland and Zendaya did not directly confirm whether Insomniac gameplay inspired specific sequences in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but the subtext was clear: they are not casual players. Holland said, “We love the games, the games are absolutely sensational,” and Zendaya added, “I'm not very good at playing video games. I get very frustrated because I want to play it all by myself, and he'll try to come [help me.” That detail matters, because it frames their fandom as hands-on. They are not just praising a brand. They are living the moments where player skill and narrative set pieces collide, and they are doing it in front of audiences that already treat Spider-Man stories like a shared universe.

Their comments also revealed which part of the gameplay hit hardest. Zendaya noted she had trouble with the back half of Marvel's Spider-Man 2, when Mary Jane Watson gets taken over by a symbiote and turns into a villainous monster known as Scream. In the end, Holland had to help her with that section. For executives and operators, that is a useful reminder of what gamers respond to: not just who the hero is, but how the game turns transformation, tension, and control into playable pressure. The franchise has plenty of Spider-Man moments. What landed for these two was the specific narrative pivot where Mary Jane becomes Scream, and the gameplay challenge that forces you to engage rather than merely watch.

This is not the first time Holland has publicly tied his Spider-Man interests to Insomniac's games. While promoting Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021, Holland said Sony gave him a PS5 to play, and he enjoyed the experience. He also stated that the team copied one move from the game and added it into the film. Fans believe that move is the moment where Peter flips Green Goblin through the air before slamming him back into the ground, using his webs to propel them. Whether or not every viewer agrees with the exact match, the broader pattern is consistent: gameplay moves and cinematic blocking are feeding each other across mediums. For studios, that is the second-order payoff of brand alignment, because it suggests the collaboration is not purely promotional. It can become creative input.

Now, Insomniac is leaning into that goodwill. After Holland and Zendaya discussed their enthusiasm for the games during the Spider-Man: Brand New Day promo, Insomniac extended an invitation for the stars to come visit the studio. The article is careful about what happens next: it says whether the visit actually occurs remains to be seen. But the intent is legible. Insomniac is using real interest from high-profile Spider-Man talent to keep its own Spider-Man identity in the spotlight, right as Marvel's Spider-Man 2 enters a new promotional window.

That timing is not trivial. The source notes that Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into cinemas on July 31st, and it also flags that Spider-Man: Brand New Day's suit is being added to Marvel's Spider-Man 2 next month. Cross-promotion like this works because it creates a two-way street between audiences who may be film-first and audiences who may be game-first. If you watch Spider-Man: Brand New Day, you have a reason to return to Marvel's Spider-Man 2 to see the suit. If you play Marvel's Spider-Man 2, you have a reason to watch the movie version and recognize shared Spider-Man energy. The studio tour invitation is essentially a “make the loop visible” move. It turns fandom into a behind-the-scenes story you can market.

On the executive side, this is also a low-friction brand safety play. Instead of relying on vague influencer narratives, Insomniac is anchoring the story in specific, personal reactions from Holland and Zendaya: frustration, help from a partner, and a memorable narrative mechanic involving Scream. That specificity reduces the risk of the message feeling hollow. It also gives marketing teams something concrete to build content around, from “here’s why this mission was hard” to “here’s how the studio thinks about bringing these transformations to life.” In an entertainment market where attention is expensive and audience trust is fragile, “they actually played it” beats “they said it on a podcast” every time.

For peers in similar roles, the strategic stake is simple: entertainment franchises increasingly operate as ecosystems. Spider-Man is not only a character. It is a network of studios, games, films, and promotional moments that can amplify each other if the timing and messaging line up. Insomniac inviting Holland and Zendaya to its studio is a sign that the boundaries between film casting and game culture are getting blurrier, fast. If you are a studio executive, producer, or board member watching where audience attention goes, this is a real example of how celebrity interest can be converted into tangible marketing opportunities, and how those opportunities can align with in-game content drops and cinema release schedules.