Jon Watts Has Left Production of The Fantastic Four

Spider-Man director, Jon Watts stepped down from his involvement with the upcoming Marvel movie Fantastic Four. This no doubt leaves fans of both franchises disappointed. His decision came after a long discussion with the studio that lead to a conclusion that he needed a break. It comes after three back-to-back Spiderman movies.

When your movies do well at the box office, you get recognized and rewarded more. When they don’t, you get forgotten and shunned. Jon Watts had very successful Spiderman movies under Marvel’s control. He and Kevin Feige’s partnership amassed a huge box office that continued to establish Spiderman as one of the biggest superheroes.

The Spiderman Trilogy Has Thrived under Jon Watts’ Direction

Source: Disney+

Spider-Man: Homecoming premiered in Hollywood on June 28, 2017, and released in the United States on July 7, as part of Phase Three of the MCU. Spiderman: Homecoming earned more than $880 million worldwide. Spider-Man: Far From Home premiered in June, 2019, at the TCL Chinese Theatre, and released theatrically in the United States in July 2019. It came out as the last film in the MCU’s Phase Three. Positive reviews praised the film’s jokes, battle scenes, visual effects, and acting skills by Holland and Gyllenhaal. It grossed over $1.1 billion globally, making it the first Spider-Man movie to pass a billion. Spiderman: No Way Home received positive reviews from critics, who praised the story, direction, action sequences, and the cast’s chemistry. No Way Home grossed over $1.8 billion globally, passing its predecessor as the highest-grossing film released by Sony Pictures. It’s safe to say that Jon Watts really did his part.

What Was Said By Jon Watts and Marvel?

Jon Watts made the following statement:

“Making three Spider-Man films was an incredible and life-changing experience for me. I’m eternally grateful to have been a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for seven years. I’m hopeful we’ll work together again and I can’t wait to see the amazing vision for Fantastic Four brought to life.”

Head of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Kevin Feige also issued a statement saying,

“Collaborating with Jon on the Spider-Man films has been a true pleasure. We were looking forward to continuing our work with him to bring the Fantastic Four into the MCU but understand and are supportive of his reasons for stepping away. We are optimistic that we will have the opportunity to work together again at some point down the road.”

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

The Spiderman Director Already Has His Next Gig With Apple

Following the release of Far From Home, 2019 rumors on the future direction of Spider-Man in the MCU circulated. It seemed like Sony wanted to keep the IP out of Marvel completely to explore Venom sequels and more spinoffs. It later emerged that Marvel Studios indeed wanted to involve mega-producer, Kevin Feige, more heavily in any future Spider-Man movies. Sony, however, was against that. Thankfully, the two parties could find a healthy medium and the character got his trilogy. The last one, No Way Home, was inarguably the best of the bunch.

Deadline reported that Apple had signed an exclusive film and TV deal with the Spider-Man director, Jon Watts. It was one of the first major talent deals Apple lined up since its global heads of video content, Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, joined the company in June 2017. The company inked a deal with multiple Oscar winner, Aaron Sorkin earlier this week. They’re also circling a project called Killers of the Flower Moon. Another interesting thing about Watts is that he began his career directing writer-performer Tim Heidecker. This was in some absurdist shorts that differed greatly from Spider-Man: Homecoming and Far From Home. Prior to making those small-scale indie projects and his subsequent jump onto Marvel’s superhero stage, he actually worked on Onion News Network and other projects at the humor factory known as Onion Inc.