Marvel Reportedly Courting Spider-Man Director Jon Watts For MCU Projects
The Sony-Disney fight for Spider-Man may not be over yet — but not in the way you'd think.
Deadline is reporting that Disney and Marvel have their sights set on Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home director Jon Watts for future Marvel Cinematic Universe movies.
According to the publication, Watts only signed on for two Sony films — which means that, as of right now, his involvement in the third Tom Holland-led Spider-Man movie is completely up in the air. It also means that Watts could be ripe for the taking for other projects, and sources close to Deadline have indicated that Watts is "being courted by Marvel."
Watts was originally brought into the Marvel fold by studio president Feige, who's been known to give lesser-known directors a chance at taking on huge franchise films. Before Spider-Man: Homecoming, Watts was best known for the indie thriller Cop Car, which is a far cry from the world of Tony Stark and the Avengers.
But Watts has more than proven his worth as a big-budget action director — both Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home have been incredibly successful for Sony. (Far From Home recently hit the $1.11 billion mark, surpassing Skyfall as Sony's highest-grossing film ever.) So, of course it makes sense that both Sony and Marvel would want to continue making films with him. The question is, how much does Watts want to continue making Spider-Man movies?
The other big question comes down to whether or not Watts would want to continue making superhero films in general — even with Marvel Studios. Given Watts has demonstrated his ability to craft a successful franchise, there's no shortage of studios who'd want to bring him aboard if he is stepping away from Sony. So really, it'll be up to Watts to decide what to do next — a pretty enviable position to be in for a director who only recently broke into the mainstream.
It's already been reported that Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, the duo who wrote Far From Home, will return to Sony for the third Spider-Man installment. With Tom Holland in the mix, it seems unlikely that Sony would want to let Watts go without a fight. Looks like Sony might have to duke it out with Marvel yet again over the Spider-Man franchise.
Negotiations between Sony and Disney broke down on August 20, though there still seems to be some back and forth between the two companies. Deadline reported that Disney was initially looking for a 50/50 co-financing stake in order to keep Feige involved with Sony's Spider-Man franchise. By Friday, August 23, it seemed as though Disney had dropped that number down, and the company was aiming to finance 25 percent of the movie series in return for 25 percent equity in the finished product. The deal would only apply to films made with Marvel and Feige, who recently said that having Spider-Man in the MCU was "a dream that [he] never thought would happen" and that Marvel's deal with Sony "was never meant to last forever."
Many questions on the Spider-Man front still remain. Check back with Looper for updates as more information becomes available.