When Marvel Studios first announced what would become The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Jon Watts was set to direct. But after delivering Spider-Man: No Way Home (which became a $1.9 billion box office juggernaut), Watts decided to step away from the project. After directing three Spider-Man films in a row, it’s hard to blame him.
While speaking at a storytelling masterclass in Malta at the Mediterrane Film Festival (via THR), Watts explained why he had to drop out of Fantastic Four. He said he was “out of gas” following the exhaustive pandemic shoot and lengthy post-production process.
“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 postproduction process was very difficult,” Watts said. “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.“
Once it came time to focus his attention on Fantastic Four, Watts realized he didn’t have enough energy to do his best work. “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,” he said. “I was just out of steam, so I just needed to take some time to recover. 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.” WandaVision‘s Matt Shakman replaced Watts as the director of The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
The official synopsis for The Fantastic Four: First Steps: “Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ben Grimm/The Thing as they face their most daunting challenge yet. Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.” The film will hit theaters on July 25.
