‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Director Jon Watts Exits Marvel’s ‘Fantastic Four’

etcanada.com:

Jon Watts is stepping away from Marvel’s upcoming “Fantastic Four” movie. Deadline reports that Watts, who directed the studio’s wildly successful “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and the previous two “Spider-Man” films, was previously announced to helm the upcoming Marvel movie.

Watts confirmed he was leaving the project, as did Marvel. READ MORE: ‘Spider-Man’ Director Jon Watts Tapped For New ‘Fantastic Four’ Movie Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and co-president issued a joint statement, explaining that Watt’s exit was an amicable one. “Collaborating with Jon on the Spider-Man films has been a true pleasure,” they said in the statement. “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.” “Making three ‘Spider-Man’ films was an incredible and life-changing experience for me,” added Watts. “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.” READ MORE: Emily Blunt Says The Superhero Genre Has Been ‘Exhausted’ As She Responds To ‘Fantastic Four’ Casting Rumours No replacement director has yet been named for the “Fantastic Four” project, which will mark the third iteration of the franchise; a 2005 “Fantastic Four” movie spawned a 2007 sequel with the same cast, “Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer”, while a 2015 reboot with a whole new cast proved to be a critical and commercial failure.