Jon Watts was only really known for directing Clown and Cop Car when Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures hired him to helm Spider-Man: Homecoming. Understandably, many fans had reservations about another "indie" director working on the franchise, particularly after Marc Webb had struggled with The Amazing Spider-Man franchise.
Fortunately, the filmmaker exceeded expectations and delivered three huge critical and commercial hits. After successfully getting Spider-Man: No Way Home across the finish line in 2021 (no easy feat given its scale and the pandemic), Watts was expected to begin work on Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four reboot. Instead, he chose to leave the movie after devoting a good half a decade of his career to the MCU.
The fact Watts agreed to take charge of that movie seemed to suggest he never planned to return for Spider-Man 4, and several names have since been rumoured to be in the running for the coveted job.
Talking to CinemaBlend, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige confirmed Watts won’t be back for the web-slinger’s next solo outing.
"We love Jon. Jon did three of the best Spider-Man films ever for us," Feige said. "He's got lots of things going on now. So we'll probably be looking for somebody else, just because he's busy."
Watts has Wolfs starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt coming out later this year and Star Wars TV series Skeleton Crew will also likely be with us before the holidays. Beyond that, we don’t know what he has planned, though he lno doubt remains one of Hollywood’s most in-demand filmmakers.
It's a shame Watts won't be back for Spider-Man 4 but someone else putting their spin on the character is bound to be welcomed by fans. After all, No Way Home ended by making it so that he's now a true street-level hero more in line with the comics.
Alongside Tom Holland, Zendaya is expected to reprise her role as MJ in Spider-Man 4. Sydney Sweeny is rumoured to be playing Black Cat, and it's been widely reported - but not confirmed - that Charlie Cox, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Paul Rudd will appear as Daredevil, The Kingpin, and Ant-Man.
As for who could direct Spider-Man 4, plenty of names are floating around online. Among them are Justin Lin (Fast & Furious), Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods) and, most recently, Ms. Marvel's Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire helmer Adam Wingard.
In terms of plot details, those are few and far between; the latest rumour to have surfaced suggests the plan is to pit Spidey against The Kingpin's goons, including Shocker and The Scorpion. It seems the idea is that the latter will acquire the Venom symbiote introduced in Spider-Man: No Way Home, only for Peter Parker to eventually don the alien suit heading into the next Avengers movies.
Spider-Man 4 doesn't currently have a confirmed release date.