Even though the wall-crawler has been kicking around Hollywood for well over a decade now, the Spider-Man film franchise has only had two directors spread across five films. That’s Sam Raimi who helmed the original trilogy, and Marc Webb who put his puntastic name on the recent pair of Amazing Spider-Man flicks.
The franchise is however, getting some new blood. Specifically from Jon Watts, who’ll helm a new Spider-Man flick that stars Tom Holland.Watts may not be a name that many people recognise. After all, his most high-profile work so far is the upcoming Cop Car, a sophomore effort starring Kevin Bacon. Still, Marvel clearly sees something in him, something that Watts is just now realising as he explained to EW:
“I’m not really sure what happened,” Watts said. “I had never been to Sundance before. I was nervous because that was the first time we were showing the movie to an actual crowd… [Marvel] got to see ‘Cop Car’ and they really liked it… Now, I’ve got to make a slightly more expensive version. It’s an opportunity to just have a much bigger canvas instead of just scrapping together any story you can.”
Watts had plenty to say about the new face of the franchise, as Tom Holland will be wearing his webs in the upcoming Captain America: Civil War:
“[Tom] can be a real high school student,” Watts continues. “That’s why people love Spider-Man. He’s the most grounded, relatable of superheroes. And Tom can really do that. He captures that. And he can do a standing back-flip. He’s perfect.”
So how big a role will Spidey play in Civil War? Who knows, but Watts said that it was the co-operation between Sony and Marvel movies, that would be the key to rebuilding a successful new Spider-Man franchise:
“I mean, it’s a big universe, so everyone sort of works with each other to make sure that there’s continuity and that it all fits together,” he explains. “It’s really exciting actually. We’re just getting started, working on the script and all that, but it’s going to be a great process.”
The next Spider-Man flick hits screens in 2017. It’s getting some script love right now, from Vacation’s John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein
Last Updated: July 29, 2015
