"Spider-Man Director Exits Fantastic Four Amid Covid Risks: 'Lives Were at Stake'"

Jon Watts, the acclaimed director behind Tom Holland’s Spider-Man trilogy, was originally set to helm The Fantastic Four: First Steps — a highly anticipated addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Given his success with the Spidey films, fans were eager to see his vision for Marvel’s First Family. However, Watts ultimately stepped away from the project, and now, for the first time, he’s opened up about why.

Speaking at the Mediterrane Film Festival in Malta during a storytelling masterclass on June 26, Watts revealed that the intense emotional and physical toll of making Spider-Man: No Way Home during the pandemic left him drained. The strict COVID-19 protocols, combined with the immense pressure of ensuring the safety of his cast and crew, took a significant toll. “The emotional strain of having to go through all of those COVID protocols while also trying to make something creative while also trying to make sure that your cast and crew were all safe — literally, people could’ve died if you did things wrong — that and the post-production process was very difficult,” he shared.

He also highlighted the challenges of managing visual effects under pandemic conditions. “When you’re doing [visual effects work], there’s a whole international component to it where you’re using vendors from all over the world, and the supply chain had been interrupted because of COVID. It was really hard to get effects done in a traditional way.”

Watts had initially committed to directing The Fantastic Four: First Steps between Spider-Man: Far From Home and No Way Home. But as the time came to transition into pre-production, he realized he was “out of gas.”

“The COVID layer on top of making a giant movie layer, I knew I didn’t have what it would’ve taken to make that movie great,” he explained. “I was just out of steam, so I just needed to take some time to recover. Everyone at Marvel totally understood. They had been through it with me as well, so they knew how hard and draining that experience has been; in the end, very satisfying, but at some point, if you can’t do it at the level that you feel like you need to for it to be great, then it’s better to not do it.”

While he won’t be directing the upcoming film, Watts expressed genuine excitement for what director Matt Shakman and the team have created. Still, he admitted, “it’s going to be [a] totally surreal experience for me to go and watch that movie.”

The Fantastic Four: First Steps, starring Pedro Pascal, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ralph Ineson, is set to hit theaters on July 25.