Spider-Man director Jon Watts explains his Fantastic Four exit
Jon Watts left The Fantastic Four: First Steps because he was 'out of gas'.
The 43-year-old filmmaker - who directed Tom Holland's Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Spider-Man trilogy - was due to helm the upcoming superhero blockbuster, though exited the project in April 2022, allowing WandaVision's Matt Shakman to take the job that September.
Now, Watts has explained that 'the emotional strain' of COVID protocols, the lengthy post-production process and a general feeling of burnout following Spider-Man: No Way Home ultimately pushed him to leave The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Speaking on a panel at the Mediterrane Film Festival, he said: 'The emotional strain of having to go through all of those COVID protocols while also trying to make something creative while also trying to make sure that your cast and crew were all safe - literally people could've died if you did things wrong - that, and the post-production process was very difficult.
'When you're doing [visual effects work], there's a whole international component to it where you're using vendors from all over the world, and the supply chain had been interrupted because of COVID. It was really hard to get effects done in a traditional way.
'By the time No Way Home was done and out, I went in to get back into the story for Fantastic Four. I was like, 'I am out of gas.'
'The COVID layer on top of making a giant movie layer, I knew I didn't have what it would've taken to make that movie great. I was just out of steam, so I just needed to take some time to recover.'
Watts added Marvel 'totally understood' his decision to walk away from The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
He said: 'Everyone at Marvel totally understood. They had been through it with me as well, so they knew how hard and draining that experience has been; in the end, very satisfying, but at some point, if you can't do it at the level that you feel like you need to for it to be great, then it's better to not do it.'
Even so, Watts said he was 'very excited' to see The Fantastic Four: First Steps when it hits cinemas on 25 July.
He said: 'I don't know exactly what happens in it. But I've seen the trailers, I've heard a couple of things.
'I think it's pretty close to what we had initially come up with in our story. Obviously, it evolves and adapts over time, but the main villain, the basic threat, the broad strokes ... retrofuturism version of Fantastic Four ... It's going to be a totally surreal experience for me to go and watch that movie.'
The Fantastic Four: First Steps - which stars Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon-Moss Bachrach - follows the titular team as they gain extraordinary powers after a cosmic accident during their exploration of outer space.
As they grapple with their new identities, the Fantastic Four must unite to stop the rising threat of Galactus, who could destroy Earth.
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