The 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' helmer has decided to withdraw from the project, which is expected to bring the Fantastic Four into MCU, after completing the 'Spider-Man' trilogy.
- April 30, 2022
AceShowbiz - The "Fantastic Four (2022)" reboot is back on the hunt for a director. Having been in development at Disney following the studio's acquisition of 20th Century Fox, the project has just lost Jon Watts as a director.
The exit is amicable as Watts needs a break from the superhero realm after completing the "Spider-Man" trilogy starring Tom Holland and Zendaya Coleman, Deadline reports. Both the filmmaker and Disney have confirmed his withdrawal.
"Making three 'Spider-Man' films was an incredible and life changing experience for me," Watts said in a statement released on Friday, April 29. "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."
Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige respected the decision. He said in a separate statement, "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."
Feige first announced that Watts was tapped to direct the "Fantastic Four" reboot for Marvel Studios in December 2020 during the Disney Investor Day presentation. The "Fantastic Four" reboot was supposed to be his next film after directing the latest web-crawler movie, "Spider-Man: No Way Home", which became the highest-grossing film of 2021 and the sixth highest-grossing film of all time. He is expected to return for the fourth installment and has not officially dropped out of the project.
Meanwhile, Disney has not announcement his replacement to work on the new "Fantastic Four" movie. No release date is set for the movie as no writer or cast member is attached to the project just yet.
Last year, reports swirled that Jennifer Lawrence, Millie Bobby Brown and Saoirse Ronan were among those circling the project. Henry Cavill was said to be having talks with the studio, while John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Liam Hemsworth, Jonathan Groff, Anya Taylor-Joy, Rege-Jean Page, Ana De Armas, Gary Oldman and Keanu Reeves were reportedly considered for the movie, but none has been confirmed.
