Spider-Man director Jon Watts exits the Fantastic Four project
Jon Watts, who directed all three MCU Spider-Man movies, recently shared why he stepped away from Marvel's upcoming Fantastic Four reboot.
After wrapping up Spider-Man: No Way Home under intense COVID-19 rules, he said he was "out of gas" and needed a break.
"Literally people could've died if you did things wrong," Watts explained, so he decided to take time off to recover.
Watts's initial departure from the project
Watts was supposed to direct Fantastic Four but officially left the project in April 2022 due to exhaustion from managing strict safety protocols and a challenging post-production process.
Marvel supported his decision, and Matt Shakman took over as director later that year.
'Fantastic Four' still reflects much of my original vision: Watts
Even though he's no longer directing, Watts is genuinely excited for the film's release on July 25.
He says it still reflects much of his original vision—a team getting powers from a cosmic accident and facing Galactus in a retrofuturistic world.
Watching the finished movie felt "totally surreal," he admitted.