On Friday, Mike Fleming Jr. of Deadline exclusively revealed that Jon Watts had decided not to direct Marvel Studios’ upcoming ‘Fantastic Four’ film. Before anyone gets on social media to speculate about potential behind-the-scenes drama, Fleming’s report states that the decision was both mutual and amicable.
Apparently, Watts simply wants a break from directing big-budget superhero movies, which is completely understandable. With how big and successful his three Spider-Man films were, it’s easy to forget that he first gained notoriety back in 2015 for the indie film Cop Car.

“Tom Holland & Jon Watts” by Gage Skidmore is marked with CC BY-SA 2.0.
Marvel Studios would obviously love to have the guy who just knocked it out of the park with Spider-Man: No Way Home in the director’s chair, but they shouldn’t have a hard time finding a good replacement (or topping Fox Studios’ subpar attempts at building a Fantastic Four movie franchise).
There’s been highly credible chatter lately that John Krasinski is Marvel Studios’ pick to play Reed Richards. Don’t be surprised if his success directing the Quiet Place films leads to Marvel Studios’ asking him to act and direct in their big-screen adaptation of Marvel’s First Family.

Join the AIPT Patreon
Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:
- ❌ Remove all ads on the website
- 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
- 📗 Access to our monthly book club
- 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
- 💥 And more!
You must be logged in to post a comment.