Despite taking to social media earlier this week to debunk a Spider-Man: Homecoming casting rumor, director Jon Watts remained tight-lipped this morning when the Daily Beast asked whether or not the newly-cast Donald Glover is playing Miles Morales in the reboot.
“I can’t talk about anything like that!” he said. “That would have been so amazing, if I’d just completely spilled some secret like that by accident. I probably can’t say anything. There’s a little sniper dot on me at all times, just in case. They’ll hit me with a tranq dart.”
However, with the Spider-Man: Homecoming cast growing seemingly by the day, Jon Watts did explain how the much-needed diversity in the 2017 reboot’s ensemble —particularly surrounding Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) group of friends —came about so naturally: “Peter Parker goes to high school in Queens, and Queens is one of—if not the—most diverse places in the world. So I just wanted it to reflect what that actually looks like.”
When asked if he’s been concerned about how Homecoming will differentiate from the previous Spider-Man movies, if at all, the director suggests that he’s not worried at all. “It’s been really fun to just look for things that none of the other Spider-Man movies have really explored before, and decide if that’s something we want to work into that,” Watts replied. “And really making it a high school movie, and committing to that, and not having that just be the beginning of the movie. The John Hughes sort of tone. When you’re looking at it through that prism, it really opens up the door to a lot of possibilities.”
Watts then recalled how he was lucky to observe and learn from Marvel's introduction of Tom Holland as the new Web-Slinger through Captain America: Civil War. “It was already a moving train when I got on board, but I came on right as they got Tom [Holland], and so I knew everything that was happening with Civil War,” he explained. “I was there when they were shooting it and sort of lurking in the back, looking over the Russos’ shoulders, and I had ideas about this and that. We were already on the same page, but it was great because I got to sort of meet everyone and see what they were doing with it, and that informed where we eventually took it.” Read the full chat here and share thoughts below!
Directed by Jon Watts, Marvel and Sony’s Spider-Man: Homecoming stars Tom Holland in the titular role, with Zendaya, Michael Barbieri, Laura Harrier, Tony Revolori, Kenneth Choi, Martin Starr, Donald Glover, Logan Marshall-Green, Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr., and Michael Keaton filling out the supporting cast. And the film is set for release July 7, 2017.