Jon Watts is no longer in the director’s chair for Marvel’s upcoming Fantastic Four movie. After directing three Spider-Man films back to back, it seems like the director is probably exhausted. According to Deadline, which broke the news, Watts exited Fantastic Four over said desire to take a break. So it all seems pretty amicable.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige first announced Watts was directing Fantastic Four in December 2020 during the Disney Investor Day call. The long-awaited film is the third cinematic iteration of the Marvel Comics characters since 2005. Considering Watts successfully steered the third big-screen iteration of Spider-Man in as many years, it’s no surprise Marvel courted the director. Spider-Man: No Way Home is currently the third-highest grossing Marvel film, grossing $1.89 billion globally. It sits behind just Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War.
Both Watts and Marvel Studios confirmed the director’s departure to Deadline. In a statement, Feige and Marvel Studios co-president Louis D’Esposito, said, “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.”
Meanwhile, Watts shared, “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.”
Honestly, good for Watts. Andrew Garfield, who worked with Watts on No Way Home, shared he’s ready to take a little hiatus after an outrageously busy year. So good on the director for following suit. Given Watts is departing on good terms, maybe we’ll see him enter the multiverse again soon. Marvel is, after all, reportedly planning their next decade of films right now. In the meantime, Watts is shepherding the next Final Destination film into existence, serving as a producer.
