The Year of our Lord 2024 was a busy one for Team Lendaya. Dune 2 arrived in March and Challengers hit theaters in April, meaning Zendaya had months of promotional appearances that all came in a steady stream, without the benefit of a breather in between. The resulting slew of clothes let to a lot of split decisions among Fug Nationals, both on an outfit-by-outfit basis and the opinion of each press tour as a whole. One common theme, though, is an increasing fatigue with theme-dressing, with both of these press tours cited as an example.
Would we have been as frustrated by some of these if, say, Challengers had come out six months after Dune Deux? Would Team Zaw have had fresher eyes and instincts if they weren’t planning for both of these at the same time? And how much of the Challengers kitsch was always in the plan, and how much was because Team Zoach felt pressure to differentiate from all the Dune that came before?
And most crucially, how much of this will we like better in retrospect, if any?
