Jon Watts On Landing SPIDER-MAN As Director, "Perfect" Tom Holland And His CIVIL WAR Debut
For the first time since he was announced as director of the Spider-Man reboot, Jon Watts has discussed how he got the gig, why Tom Holland is perfect, and he also comments on the Web-Slinger's debut!
In the same announcement that had named Tom Holland as the new Peter Parker/ Spider-Man of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Jon Watts was also revealed as the director of the Web-Slinger's next standalone movie. And while promoting his new film Cop Car which debuted at Sundance, Watts explained to Entertainment Weekly how he landed the project with Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures and why Holland is perfect for the role. The filmmaker also vaguely weighed in on (and further confirmed) the rebooted Spider-Man making his debut in Captain America: Civil War.
"I’m not really sure what happened," said Jon Watts when asked how he went from directing his Sundance hit Cop Car to Spider-Man. "I had never been to Sundance before. I was nervous because that was the first time we were showing the movie to an actual crowd. So I was dealing with that. I mean, Sundance is like a genre. At least it was to me growing up and in film school: it’s like a Sundance kind of a movie. But [Marvel] got to see Cop Car and they really liked it. But yeah, this trend is interesting. Now, I’ve got to make a slightly more expensive version. It’s an opportunity to just have a bigger canvas instead of just scrapping together any story you can."
When asked about the possibility that directing Spider-Man would delay other passion projects, Jon Watts said, "I think that’s a little philosophical. I mean, I still have so many movies that I want to make, and [Spider-Man] just gets to become one of them. That’s how I think of it. I still have a lot of ideas I want to make, in addition to this, and I don’t think it’s a one-way path in that sense." Talk then turned to Tom Holland with Watts offering nothing but praise for the British as well as his performance in The Impossible. "He’s so good in that," he said. "He can be a real high school student. That’s why people love Spider-Man. He’s the most grounded, relatable of superheroes. And Tom can really do that. He captures that. And he can do a standing back-flip. He’s perfect."
Finally, Jon Watts was asked about collaborating with Captain America: Civil War directors Joe and Anthony Russo given Tom Holland will first appear in that movie before swinging solo. "I mean, it’s a big universe, so everyone sort of works with each other to make sure that there’s continuity and that it all fits together," he explained. "It’s really exciting actually. We’re just getting started, working on the script and all that, but it’s going to be a great process." What do you think?
Directed by Jon Watts, Marvel and Sony's untitled Spider-Man reboot so far stars Tom Holland as Peter Parker and Marisa Tomei as Aunt May, and is scheduled to open in theaters on July 28, 2017. However, the friendly neighborhood web-slinger will first make his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut alongside Earth's Mightiest Heroes in Captain America: Civil War on May 6, 2016.