Spider-Man director Jon Watts steps down from helming Marvel Studios’ upcoming Fantastic Four reboot

Jon Watts is out as the director of Marvel Studios’ upcoming Fantastic Four reboot.

After spending years of his career directing the Tom Holland led Spider-Man films, the acclaimed filmmaker is temporarily stepping away from the superhero genre, according to Deadline.

With Watt at the helm, all three Spider-Man films – Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) – went on to become bonafide hits for Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures.

Apparently, there wasn’t any falling out between Watts and the studios.

In fact, both Marvel and Watts confirmed that the split was amicable, but neither side cited a reason for the split.

‘Making three Spider-Man films was an incredible and life changing experience for me,’ Watts said in a statement. 

‘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.’ 

Watts had expected to make the third iteration of the Fantastic Four franchise his next film, not that long ago. But, in the end, he decided he needed to step away.

Bonafide hit! The most recent of the three movies – Spider-Man: No Way Home – grossed $1.89 billion on a $200 million budget to become the sixth highest grossing film of all-time

Marvel and Sony officially announced that Holland would star as Spider-Man and that Watts would direct the film Spider-Man reboot back on June 23, 2015. 

Now, after making three installments with Watts at the helm, Marvel Studios had nothing but positive things to say about the work they did together, in a separate statement.

‘Collaborating with Jon on the Spider-Man films has been a true pleasure,’ said Kevin Feige president, Marvel Studios and Louis D’Esposito, co-president, Marvel Studios.

‘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.’

The second installment – Spider-Man: Far From Home – raked in $1.13 billion at the worldwide box office on a $160 million budget

The three films with Watts as director were big money-makers at the box office, earning significantly more money each time.

With a $200 million budget, the most recent of the movies – No Way Home – dropped in December 17, 2021, and went on to gross $1.89 billion to become the sixth highest grossing film of all-time.

The second installment – Far From Home – raked in $1.13 billion at the worldwide box office on a $160 million budget.

And then there’s the debut – Homecoming – which grossed just over $880 million on a $175 million budget.

So far a replacement for the director of the Fantastic Four has not been announced. 

Mystery: So far a replacement for the director of the Fantastic Four has not been announced