Jon Watts No Longer Directing Fantastic Four

Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts is taking a break from superhero films, stepping down from the helm of Marvel’s The Fantastic Four. Marvel Studios announced (per Deadline) that Watts is stepping down from the film because he wanted to take a break from the superhero genre after doing the three Spider-Man films back-to-back.

Marvel and Watts have confirmed that the split is amicable, with Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige saying:

“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.”

Watts added:

““Making three Spider-Man films was an incredible and life-changing experience for me. 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 is looking to bring their First Family into the MCU with the planned Fantastic Four film, which will try to redeem the characters after Fox’s last Fantastic Four flopped with critics and at the box office in 2015. The site reports that Sony has made it clear that it intends to do more Spider-Man films with Watts, Tom Holland, and Zendaya, though it is not yet known when a fourth entry would potentially start moving ahead.