‘Spider-Man’ Director Jon Watts Exits Marvel’s ‘Fantastic Four’
EXCLUSIVE: Jon Watts has withdrawn as the director of Fantastic Four, the reinvention of the venerable Marvel Comics series at Marvel Studios and Disney. Watts just directed Spider-Man: No Way Home, the Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios film that grossed $1.89 billion to become the sixth highest grossing film of all-time. Nothing sinister here; Watts just needs a break from the superhero realm after completing the Spidey trilogy with Tom Holland and Zendaya. He had expected to make Fantastic Four his next film, the third feature iteration of that franchise and first since Disney acquired Fox, which controlled the franchise. Watts has spent the better part of the last decade directing and promoting the Spider-Man films, after being hired off Cop Car, a small budget indie thriller that premiered at 2015 Sundance. He needs a breather.