The Marvel Cinematic Universe is known for constantly expanding, thanks to new project arriving in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. Cinephiles who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order have seen how Tom Holland's Spider-Man franchise has become a fan favorite. The first three movies were directed by Jon Watts, who recently spoke about handing the keys over to filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton for the upcoming Marvel movie Brand New Day.

What we know about Spider-Man: Brand New Day is super limited, with fans filling in the blanks with rumors and theories. New ground is being broken, specifically with the Shang-Chi filmmaker taking over as director. Watts spoke to People about how it's felt stepping away from Holland's franchise; when asked if he's been in contact with Cretton, he said:

I love the honesty here. Considering how many years Jon Watts worked on his Spider-Man trilogy, it makes sense that he might have strange feelings about someone else taking over. He's trying to give Destin Daniel Cretton space to take the reigns, and is preparing for even more feelings once he actually sees Brand New Day on the big screen next summer. Can you blame him?

The discrepancy between these two filmmakers' approach to the wall crawler is already becoming obvious. For example: while Watts thought practical web swinging doesn't look cool on film, Cretton used stunts to achieve those scenes in Brand New Day rather than CGI. And I have to assume that's only the tip of the ice berg regarding their difference in filmmaking.

Fans are curious about what's next for Tom Holland's Peter Parker, especially after the ending of Spider-Man: No Way Home. In it Doctor Strange's spell worked, and deleted any memories of Peter from the world. That included his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) and girlfriend MJ (Zendaya). While his loved ones are now safe from any villains looking to hurt him, Peter was left alone without any friends or family. And I'm so curious about exactly how it's been for the hero flying solo.

There are countless questions about the upcoming Spidey flick, including who Sadie Sink is playing and how other heroes like Hulk and Punisher will factor into the action. Hopefully we get some answers soon, although the movie isn't expected to hit theaters until the summer. As such, fans will have to try and be patient.

All will be revealed when Spider-Man: Brand New Day hits theaters on July 31st as part of the 2026 movie release list. And hopefully we'll see Tom Holland once again reprise his role in one of the two Avengers movies that will follow.

Joe and Anthony Russo may have introduced Tom Holland’s Peter Parker to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Captain America: Civil War and put him through the wringer in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, but it was Jon Watts who shepherded the character through this franchise’s Spidey trilogy. However, the director decided to sit out the upcoming Marvel movie Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ Destin Daniel Cretton inherited the helming reins. Now Watts has shared how he expects to feel when he sits down to watch Brand New Day for the first time.

Watts, who most recently produced the 2025 movie release Final Destination: Bloodlines, was asked by Variety if he’s talked with Cretton about his directorial duties on Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is slotted on the 2026 movies schedule. He answered:

I can see why he feels that way. After kicking off his feature filmmaking career with Clown (which is being rereleased on 4K Blu-ray) and Cop Car, Jon Watts broke into the mainstream in 2017 with Spider-Man: Homecoming, then returned for Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man: No Way Home. These movies took up over half a decade of his life, and after No Way Home set up a fresh start for Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, he decided to step away from the MCU. Granted, there was a period when he was going to direct The Fantastic Four: First Steps, but it was ultimately Matt Shakman who secured that job.

It certainly would have been easy enough for Jon Watts to tell Destin Daniel Cretton what he thought should be done with Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Instead, he’s decided to be like the rest of us and go into the upcoming Spider-Man movie and go in blind… mostly. I’m sure he’s privy to a few plot details that are still being kept secret from the public, but for the most part, whether Watts carves out time to see Brand New Day in a theater or waits to view it at home, this will be the first time in a long time that he gets to be surprised by what unfolds in a live-action Spider-Man movie.

Again, Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures still haven’t shared anything about Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s story, but it will see Peter Parker clashing with villains like Michael Mando’s Scorpion and Marvin Jones III’s Tombstone, as well as crossing paths with MCU mainstays like Jon Bernthal’s Punisher and Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk. Catch it in theaters starting July 31, 2026.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a behemoth franchise, one that offers new content in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. One of the most highly anticipated upcoming Marvel movies is Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which will bring Tom Holland's title character back to theaters. Former director Jon Watts has offered some advice to future directors about how to film the hero's web slinging, but I'm kind of glad that newcomer Destin Daniel Cretton isn't listening.

What we know about Spider-Man: Brand New Day is limited, but production is officially underway. It'll mark the first entry in Tom Holland's franchise that isn't directed by Watts, with that honor instead going to Cretton (who previously helmed Shang-Chi). And the two filmmakers don't agree on how to film Spidey's web swinging for the big screen.

What Jon Watts Said About Practical Swinging.

Fans who have spent years watching the Marvel movies in order will recall how Watts did a killer job with the first three Spider-Man films. During a recent interview with Collider, he spoke about some of the lessons he learned while behind the camera. That includes how to capture Peter Parker's ability to swing through the air with his webs. He's not a fan of filming these sequences practically, and offered advice for future filmmakers on the matter. In his words:

Well, he certainly didn't mince his words. Since he's filmed a total of three Spider-Man movies, Watts knows what he's talking about. And while the character was shown swinging around New York City and more, those sequences were brought together through visual effects. And as such, there was no one actually swinging on a rope during these blockbusters' productions.

In the same interview, Watts went on to explain how he eventually came to this conclusion. Namely by trying to do these scenes practically before realizing how "boring" it actually looks. In his words:

I guess this makes sense. There's only so much stunt performers can pull off while swinging as Spider-Man, and it sounds like trying to film these sequences practically is time consuming and not worth it. He went on to say:

That was definitely honest. Unfortunately for Jon Watts, it doesn't seem like Destin Daniel Cretton is taking this advice as he films Brand New Day. At least, according footage of production that's made its way online.

How Destin Daniel Cretton Is Handling Swinging In Brand New Day

After Spider-Man: No Way Home's ending, fans are eager to catch up with Peter Parker. After all, Doctor Strange's spell succeeded in erasing everyone's memory of him... including MJ and Ned. Luckily production is underway, and set photos and videos have revealed that Cretton is, in fact, shooting some of the web swinging practically. A video from TikTok showed a stunt performer on harnesses, swinging away as explosions ignite behind Spidey. And in the Shang-Chi director's defense, the clip looks pretty cool;

Hints that this was being done practically first popped up on Tom Holland's Instagram, which featured two shots of him filming in costume. He's shown to be hooked up to harnesses, hinting that he was doing more practical swinging. Check it out below:

With a new filmmaker in the director's chair, I have to assume that this is just the first of many changes that are happening with Spider-Man: Brand New Day. We'll just have to wait and see how this shakes up, and if fans like the new way that web swinging in particular is being handled.

All will be revealed when Spider-Man: Brand New Day hits theaters a year from now on July 31st as part of the 2025 movie release list. We'll just have to wait and see what the Shang-Chi director has planned for this superhero flick.

One could argue that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s involvement in Spider-Man: No Way Home is one of the worst kept secrets in cinematic history, if not at the top of the list. Rumors, reports and leaked set photos spoiled that the actors would reprise their versions of Spidey long after their respective film series ended. What wasn’t known ahead of time, however, was how their Peter Parkers would be introduced into the story centered on Tom Holland’s version. As it turns out, director Jon Watts had to change Maguire and Garfield’s first scenes thanks to some astute predictions on Reddit.

Along with explaining why he dropped out of directing The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Watts opened up the work that went into bringing three Spider-Man together in Spider-Man: No Way Home while attending a panel at the Mediterrane Film Festival, moderated by Collider’s Steven Weintraub. Acknowledging that Maguire and Garfield’s Spider-Man returns had already been rumored during shooting, the filmmaker started off talking about how this portion of the script was improved with the following:

At first glance, this seems like a cool scene. Just when Tom Holland’s Peter Parker was at his lowest point, his older counterparts arrived from their universes, though their entrances are obscured so that it’s not immediately clear who they are. The problem is that Jon Watts noticed during principal photography that some fans on Reddit had already envisioned such a scene, explaining:

Since so many people around the world saw Avengers: Endgame’s game-changing portals scene, I’m not surprised some of the more hardcore MCU fans imagined a similar moment being depicted in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Great minds think alike, after all. But Jon Watts wasn’t going to be predictable, so instead, he came up with Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parkers coming through portals, in that order, at Ned’s grandma’s house. Tom Holland’s Peter still met them on a rooftop, they just accompanied Ned and MJ there instead.

The circumstances of how they came together may have changed, but ultimately Spider-Man: No Way Home fulfilled its mission to have the three cinematic Spideys join forces to battle a bunch of memorable foes. Whether we’ll ever see the Three Peters team up again remains to be seen, but we will reunite with Tom Holland’s version when the upcoming Spider-Man movie Brand New Day is released on July 31, 2026.

I’m sure no one had expected Death to come knocking as hard as it did on the door of 2025 movie schedule. That’s not meant to be a morbid statement, but rather a way of saying that Final Destination Bloodlines’ crazy box office success was an event that even die hard fans probably didn’t see in the plans.

So of course everyone wants to know if there’s going to be a continuation; even in light of that really destructive ending. Well Bloodlines producer and former Spider-Man director Jon Watts definitely had something to say on the matter, and long time admirers of these films are going to totally relate.

I Love How Jon Watts Confirms He’s Up For More Final Destination Sequels

Bloodlines’ co-story developer was recently spotted at the Mediterrane Film Festival in Malta, as he gave a Masterclass interview that THR was on hand to observe. So of course the question about whether or not we’d see more of New Line Cinema’s reinvigorated franchise had to be addressed in the room. And that’s what saw the Wolfs helmer share this enthusiastic response:

I wonder if Jon Watts ever side eyes his shower, particularly the retractable clothesline that made for one of Final Destination’s most memorable kills? Or maybe he too is traumatized by the first sequel’s log truck gore fest. Come to think of it, has he been using his HBO Max subscription to revisit some of the past entries, in hopes of sparking inspiration/survival strategies?

In any case, you can tell a true fan of the Jeffrey Reddick originated franchise by how they view their daily lives; and Mr. Watts absolutely passes that test. And believe it or not, I’m sure he’d agree with me that if there is another chapter coming, there’s already one key ingredient waiting to make it happen.

Final Destination Bloodlines’ Scrapped Cameo Is The Perfect Launchpad For The Next Sequel

If there’s one singular lesson we should take from Final Destination Bloodlines, it’s that Death doesn’t forget. And a deep cut easter egg in Tony Todd’s emotional final appearance has the potential to continue the gory fun for some time to come.

Through an interview with ScreenRant, co-director Zach Lipovsky revealed that the mention of Final Destination 2’s Kimberly Corman (A.J. Cook) was initially the literal doorway to a cameo from one of the only people to survive Death’s plan. This pitch was ultimately cut before it was filmed, but Mr. Lipovsky shared how that would have played out thusly:

Is it just me, or is there an opportunity staring us in the face here? Kimberly Corman feels like she should be William Bludworth’s successor in this saga, as that first draft cameo could have turned into an apprenticeship in later revisions.

Since Death seems to have tied up the major loose ends in Final Destination Bloodline’s 4DX friendly opening, you’d think it would start to move onto other cold cases. And even in Final Destination 2, we saw Clear Rivers (Ali Larter) return to help keep potential victims one step ahead of the Reaper.

With Zach Lipovsky even saying that this idea "could definitely work in the future," it doesn't take a premonition to connect these dots. Much like our dearly departed Mr. Bludworth, Ms. Corman would be the best new advisor to help ridiculously beautiful young people from dying. Sorry, I was thinking about Charli XCX’s killer Final Destination pitch for a moment there; but the point still stands.

Jon Watts is amped up for more creative cullings, and if our own Final Destination Bloodlines review is any indication, fans probably share that outlook. All that really needs to happen now is for a greenlight to be given, and for Death to sharpen its scythe for the occasion. For now though, you can revisit the previous entries in this sinister saga on HBO Max, with Bloodlines now available on PVOD for rental or purchase.

Jon Watts is definitely one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s more successful filmmakers, having directed the first three Tom Holland-led Spider-Man movies. He certainly left off on a high note with the Web-Slinger considering Spider-Man: No Way Home’s positive critical reception and making nearly $2 billion worldwide, and there was a time when he was going to follow that up with next month’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps. However, he ultimately dropped out of directing the upcoming Marvel movie for a pretty relatable reason: COVID.

No, Watts didn’t exit the reboot because he contracted COVID. While speaking to Collider’s Steve Weintraub at the Mediterrane Film Festival (via THR), he explained that he felt drained after having to go through so many extra COVID protocol hoops while shooting Spider-Man: No Way Home during the rougher days of the pandemic. The director recalled:

Making a movie isn’t easy, and certainly not ones on the scale that Marvel Studios delivers to the masses. There’s no question, however, that Spider-Man: No Way Home was on an entirely different level than its predecessors, Homecoming and Far From Home, given how it not only incorporated characters from both of the previous Spider-Man film series, but also Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange. And then on top of all that, Jon Watts and his team had to implement these COVID protocols in order to keep people safe on set.

Obviously these were necessary precautions and the movie shouldn’t have been made without them, but by the time all was said and done, Watts was exhausted. So despite having signed on to helm The Fantastic Four: First Steps shortly before No Way Home was released, by April 2022, he stepped away from the gig. That’s because he came to the following realization:

At the end of August 2022, WandaVision’s Matt Shakman was tapped to replace Jon Watts on the new Fantastic Four movie, which required his own exit from the long-awaited Star Trek 4. Watts ultimately followed up Spider-Man: No Way Home with the George Clooney and Brad Pitt-led movie Wolfs, which was supposed to get a sequel, but it was scrapped after Watts got into a disagreement with Apple. He also created the Star Wars TV series Skeleton Crew.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps comes out on July 25, and Jon Watts admitted during the event that it’ll be a “totally surreal experience” for him to see the movie. Watts also won’t be overseeing Peter Parker’s next MCU adventure, as Destin Daniel Cretton is helming 2026’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day. He did, however, produce and craft the story for Final Destination: Bloodlines, which is still playing in theaters.

Part of the joy of storytelling in the Star Wars universe is that you can – and you are supposed to – stretch the boundaries of what has been shown on screen before, because you have an entire galaxy at your fingertips, and there’s no need to regurgitate what already has been shown. “Hey, great. We’re back on Tatooine!” Said no Star Wars fan, ever. That’s why, of all the upcoming Star Wars stories, the one that has me most hyped is the teased project by James Mangold, that is reported to take place eons before the Skywalker Saga, at the dawn of the creation of the Jedi. That being said, there are still STAPLES of the Star Wars process that filmmakers get to appreciate, and one of them hit me pretty hard while watching Skeleton Crew.

Skeleton Crew, which arrived on Disney+ this week, is drenched in fun. It’s a kid-centered Star Wars adventure that, so far, catapults four adolescent suburban kids and a droid on a spaceship that brings them to unknown parts of the galaxy. And I enjoyed the first two episodes because they overloaded on creatures, locations, characters, and all new Star Wars geekery. But when the first two episodes ended, I was struck by seeing this title card:

I’ve been following Jon Watts’ career since the beginning. I liked his feature-length debut, Cop Car, and embraced him as the helmer of the Spider-Man trilogy once he was hired to shepherd my favorite character through the MCU. When Watts was tapped for Skeleton Crew, I got excited to see what flavor he’d bring to the universe. And when I saw his name in the classic Star Wars font, I actually got chills. Imagine how he must have felt seeing it for the first time?

During a press day for Skeleton Crew, I was lucky enough to ask Jon Watts and his co-creator Christopher Ford what they felt seeing their names in the vintage Star Wars blue font. And Ford’s answer didn’t disappoint. He told CinemaBlend:

It would blow my mind, as well. There’s something so signature about the font. The moment you see it, in that blue, you instantly associate it with Star Wars. As Jon Watts added:

You have to, at that point. You are embracing the Star Wars universe. You have to take on all of the traits. And yet, one of the things I like most about Skeleton Crew so far – particularly in Episode 2 – are the new things it is showing all of us longtime Star Wars fans. I already feel like I have been to new places, and am intrigued by the mystery of At Attin, the hidden treasure planet.

The show has pulled in some of our top writers, who have committed to following it through to its end. Are you curious enough to follow along on this adventure, to at least learn how Jude Law fits into the puzzle? New episodes will continue to drop, one per week until the season has played out. Let’s see where this goes!

One of the most notable titles to hit the 2024 movie schedule was Wolfs, the action comedy that reunited George Clooney and Brad Pitt. The Jon Watts-directed flick reportedly proved to be a success when it debuted on Apple TV+. So it wasn’t all that surprising when it was reported that Watts, Pitt and Clooney would return for a sequel. However, this past week, Watts said the film was canceled. Now, the Cop Car helmer is getting candid and sharing his account of why the movie is apparently not in development anymore.

News of the sequel's demise came just the other day, when Jon Watts revealed to Collider that he didn’t know what his next directing gig would be and that he didn’t believe the aforementioned film would happen. At that point, it was believed that this was due to decisions made by the powers that be at Apple. But, now, Watts himself appears to be taking responsibility for the movie falling apart. He explained that the biggest reason for his departure has to do with the streamer’s decision to cancel the OG film’s theatrical release:

As the director mentioned in the statement he shared with Deadline, the George Clooney and Brad Pitt-headed flick was originally set to run in theaters for a while before making the jump to streaming. News of the pivot to a limited theatrical release was accompanied by the reveal that Jon Watts was penning the script for the follow-up. The exact reason for the change remains unclear but, as the trade mentioned, the decision did follow the underwhelming theatrical performance of Fly Me to the Moon, a fellow Apple production.

Jon Watts seemed to also take issue with the fact that the sequel was announced so early and paired with the release strategy change. The Spider-Man director also explained why he’s only now chosen to speak out about his displeasure with the rollout of the film:

Per what the public knows, the relatively well-reviewed Wolfs crushed from a digital perspective. The movie, which debuted at the Venice Film Festival, ultimately made history by becoming the most streamed movie in Apple TV+’s history. So one may wonder whether the entertainment company would consider producing a sequel without the Clown helmer. Well, per Deadline’s sources, the brand remains open to the prospect, considering the performance of the movie.

It remains to be seen whether George Clooney and Brad Pitt will reunite under another filmmaker’s watchful eye for a follow-up. As of right now, the streamer has yet to provide any formal comments on the apparent cancellation of the film or the sentiments shared by the director. What can be gleaned from this latest development, at the very least, is that if another movie in the series is made, some changes will need to be made behind the scenes.

You can still stream Wolfs now using an Apple TV+ subscription.

A couple months ago, Ocean’s trilogy duo Brad Pitt and George Clooney reunited for Wolfs, the action comedy that was originally supposed to have a wide theatrical run on the 2024 movies schedule, but was instead just given a limited run ahead of its released to Apple TV+ subscription holders. It ended up becoming the most viewed movie in Apple TV+ history, but even before Wolfs had premiered, it was announced that Wolfs 2 was in development. Unfortunately, despite Wolfs hitting such a major milestone, some bad news has come in about the sequel.

Wolfs was directed by Jon Watts, the man behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first three Spider-Man movies, and when Wolfs 2 was announced, it was said he’d return to the director’s chair. But apparently that’s not going to happen after all, because while speaking with Collider about Skeleton Crew, the next of the upcoming Star Wars TV shows, Watts, who co-created the series with Christopher Ford, had this to say about Wolfs 2:

I have to say, I’m a little shocked to hear this. Sure, the first movie earned mixed critical reception, with CinemaBlend’s Wolfs review rating it 3.5 out of 5 stars. But considering how well Wolfs performed on Apple TV+, you’d think that would have been enough incentive to continue moving forward with Wolfs 2. Granted, this technically isn’t official confirmation that the sequel has been scrapped, but if Jon Watts doesn’t think it’s going to happen, then that doesn’t bode well at all for the project.

Warning: SPOILERS for Wolfs are ahead!

That’s a shame since the Wolfs ending teased that Brad Pitt and George Clooney’s characters, respectively credited as Margaret’s Man and Pam’s Man, could go on more adventures together. The two fixers discovered that they were both hired by the same man, who had also orchestrated the entire evening’s chaotic events in order to have them both killed. Since Wolfs 2 was announced, we knew Pitt and Clooney’s characters made it out of the ambush, but apparently now we’ll just have to leave their future exploits up to the imagination.

If Wolfs 2’s status gets clarified by Apple one way or another, we’ll let you know. Until then, look through the best Apple TV+ movies that can be viewed now if you’ve already checked out Wolfs.

After directing an entire trilogy of Spider-Man movies for Marvel, writer/director Jon Watts seemed to have needed a well deserved break from costumed heroics. Opting to make his new Apple TV+ crime dramedy Wolfs instead of the comic book franchise's take on Fantastic Four, Watts has returned to his non-costumed hero roots. That said, he hasn’t gone total indie, as the man behind Clown and Cop Car now has stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt in front of the camera, putting the co-stars through one wild night of New York-set mayhem.

Wolfs isn’t a terribly complicated movie, as two fixers – simply known as “Pam’s Man” (Brad Pitt) and “Margaret’s Man” (George Clooney) – show up at the same would-be crime scene to do what they do best. Reminiscent of Martin Scorsese's After Hours and Benny and Josh Safdie's Good Time, what’s supposed to play out like another night becomes a competition to see if either of the bickering professionals can make it to the morning. Complicating things further is the presence of “Kid” (Austin Abrams), a mysterious character who begins Wolfs as the clean up job, but surprisingly turns into a potential ally.

Wolfs doesn’t waste any time, quickly launching the wild rumpus that unfolds throughout this ‘long night’ narrative and letting any relevant backstory information slide in as needed. Jon Watts’ MCU chops actually serve him well in this purpose, as his eye for fitting a stand-alone tale into a larger universe helps him strike a very important balance in his own creation. The audience is given enough exposition so they can follow this tale without a problem, but there’s enough withheld (including our protagonists’ names) to entice us to want to know more. Which, in turn, makes Watts’ return to non-comic blockbuster filmmaking a rather welcome return to form.

George Clooney and Brad Pitt’s long overdue reunion in Wolfs pays off, with young star Austin Abrams playing a fantastic third wheel.

Wolfs is an entertaining exercise in walking the line between knowing what to share and what’s not necessarily need-to-know information. We don’t even need these characters’ names or backstories to know they mean business – and its helpful to have seasoned veterans Brad Pitt and George Clooney at the forefront.

Teamed together for the first time since Burn After Reading, Clooney and Pitt do not miss a beat, as their combined and individual resumes have given them the shorthand needed to make the most out of Wolfs. We’ve seen the Ocean’s Eleven co-stars previously play fixers in their careers, Clooney and Pitt respectively starring in Michael Clayton and Killing Them Softly. Effectively mixing the hardened edge of those individual credits with the wit and confidence of their shared heist capers, this isn’t just a cheap reunion that plays the hits. Rather, the stars help bridge the gap between these mysterious characters and the audience, leaving us wanting to learn even more about where these men have been and where they’re going next.

Wolfs doesn’t merely rest on the laurels of having such marquee stars anchoring its ensemble. Jon Watts’ assured directing skills make sure of that, as he also balances the presence of Pitt and Clooney rather well alongside his entire supporting cast. Perhaps the most important example of this ecosystem at work is how Austin Abrams’ Kid gleefully manages to hold his own with these titans. In a stark contrast to the coolness of Wolfs’ leading men is Abrams’ Kid. An overly nervous young man who stumbles into the world of Pam and Margaret’s guys, he isn’t someone familiar with the world that his surprise associates live and breathe.

Through impassioned, rambling stories that tell us more about how Kid got wound up in these events, Austin Abrams is set up as the uncool third wheel of Wolfs’ narrative. Some movies and performers might take that as a sign to merely hold up their end of the bargain, but between Watts’ writing of the character and Abrams’ portrayal, Kid is as fun to watch as either of our marquee star protagonists. He plays that angle like a champ, which also further highlights the impressive bench of supporting players Wolfs has.

Both Amy Ryan and Richard Kind are part of that acting bench that, while not getting a lot of screen time, still manage to shine in their own way. As a harried New York politician is the person that connects our three leads after her own night-gone-wrong, Ryan plays her own flavor of flustered rather nicely when ping ponging off of George Clooney and Brad Pitt in the picture’s inciting incident.

Meanwhile, Richard Kind’s third act appearance towards the end of Wolfs comes at a time when things are winding down, with the major action wrapped by the time he enters the frame. Yet with one scene’s worth of work, and his character being given quite the fixation with Frank Sinatra, Kind is as memorable as ever.

Again, Jon Watts walks a narrative tightrope with such characters. In the grand scheme of Wolfs’ rapidly paced story at work, any detour could harm the energy and slow things down. However, Amy Ryan and Richard Kind’s sharp acting skills aptly take their respective assignments, and add to the already rich world that this picture is playing around with.

Jon Watts’ post Spider-Man film is a confident return to non-MCU filmmaking.

As alluded to at the beginning of this review, Jon Watts needed to stretch his mental legs in a way that MCU blockbusters don’t always allow. Wolfs on the whole plays as if the Coen brothers and Steven Soderbergh collaborated on a script together, providing their own trademark touches while also giving each other deference to steal a scene here and there.

As Brad Pitt and George Clooney’s characters repeatedly sit down in dining establishments, trying to figure out how all of the pieces of the night fit together overall, you can feel the reverence Jon Watts has for those filmmakers in his work. Wolfs never tips over into rip off territory, as Watts has his own view of New York City to present in this energetic adventure. Some of the director’s previous MCU work does shine in its own way though, especially in a fun superhero landing scene with Austin Abrams. Shown in the trailers, a rather improbable moment of survival for Kid turns into a punchline, which could also be a sly nod at where Jon Watts has been plying his trade for the past couple of years.

Theodore Shapiro’s musical score also acts as an appropriately vibrant yet moody bridge between the cinematic influences at work, with shades of Carter Burwell, David Holmes, and even Ennio Morricone present throughout. (There’s a scene of action where Morricone’s theme for The Untouchables was clearly a huge inspiration). This is representative of why Wolfs works so well, as it represents a proper crossroads between familiar capers and a wholly original product. Jon Watts’ confidence to handle such a project rings true in every frame, which keeps things interesting even in moments where the proceedings may feel slightly thin.

Wolfs breezes through tonal shifts naturally, making this long night easy for the audience to enjoy.

There are tonal shifts that mostly work when executed in Wolfs’ story. In particular, there’s a pivot that George Clooney and Brad Pitt’s characters take that feels like it needs just a touch more exposition to truly land. The movie doesn’t break in the absence of this observation, as those curveballs are sold with enough confidence to make those concerns more footnotes than full on issues. Thankfully, the shorthand at work with the tones and actors in play ensures that this mix of existential quagmire and cool guy convention keeps things light.

You may walk into Wolfs expecting a witty comedy that’s nothing but one-liners, but that’s only half the picture at play. Comedy and suspense never clash, which allows the thematic journey to work rather well, despite some gaps not being filled in as much as one would hope or expect.

Because of that late film moment hammering home the formula that Wolfs works with, I’m inclined to say that’s a good sign for the rewatchability factor of this film. Much like any project that trades in mysterious circumstances, one stop on a dime scene between George Clooney and Brad Pitt had me reconsidering everything I’d watched prior to that moment playing out. With a better understanding of the thematic rules of this universe, I have a feeling that Wolfs is going to be an even richer experience for anyone who takes this ride for a spin more than once.

That sort of thinking is rewarded even more when taking into account the fact that Apple Original Films already has a sequel greenlit for Wolfs’ continuing shenanigans. Indeed, not every question is answered, and even more queries arise from that fact once this supposed first chapter lands at its resolution. It’s because of those lingering answers that the eventual setup for the future is so organic in promising more, while also offering a somewhat satisfying finale should this be the end of the line.

Having another fun romp through the “long night” subgenre is a beautiful thing to lay claim to. And seeing as Jon Watts is no stranger to such thrills, as his previous movie Cop Car also played out on a condensed timeline, it feels like the man has made a welcome return to that sort of storytelling. Whether it’s through the potential Wolfs sequel, or another narrative that catches his eye, I hope that Watts revisits these sorts of thrills yet again in the near future.

A tightly plotted film with a steady pace, Wolfs sprinkles humor and charm amidst the steady dose of bullets, punchlines, and conspiracy theories it engages in. If you’re one of those movie fans who’s lamented the lack of adult-oriented fun in the world of blockbusters, this romp should not only hold you over, but fuel your need for more.

Arguably no two actors embodied early 21st century Hollywood glamor more than Brad Pitt and George Clooney. Age-wise, the actors may have reached silver fox status, but for Pitt and Clooney's new project together, they’re lone wolves. Or Wolfs, rather, as the 2024 movie calendar would have it. The Jon Watts action-comedy premiered September 1 at the Venice Film Festival, and critics are saying that the stars still bring the charm, but that’s about all there is to this movie. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Let's find out.

“Forever friends” George Clooney and Brad Pitt have teamed up again to play professional fixers who typically insist on working alone, until a new job requires them to join forces. Audiences will be able to see the fun and fights that ensue for Wolfs’ limited theatrical run starting September 20 before it’s available to stream with an Apple TV+ subscription a week later. So what are the critics saying? In CinemaBlend's review of Wolfs, Mike Reyes calls it an "effortless treat" that doesn't rest on the laurels of its marquee stars. He rates it 3.5 out of 5 stars, writing:

William Bibbiani of The Wrap praises the cinematography and says writer/director Jon Watts seems to be stretching his legs a bit after his foray into the MCU. While the critic says the movie is good, it doesn’t really go much deeper than its stars standing next to each other, looking cool and saying cool things. Bibbiani continues:

Jordan Mintzer of THR writes that the two leading men carry the film from start to finish, even though there’s ultimately not that much to carry. Will teens and 20-somethings be as enamored with the A-listers as generations who saw Ocean’s Eleven in theaters, Mintzer wonders? That remains to be seen, but either way, Jon Watts has provided a clever but flimsy comedy. The critic says:

Nicholas Barber of the BBC disagrees that Wolfs deserves the big-screen treatment, saying that despite Pitt and Clooney “looking cooler than a pair of cucumbers,” the movie is the kind of watchable but forgettable time-passer that the best streaming services were made for. Barber rates it 3 out of 5 stars, writing:

Damon Wise of Deadline notes that the leads bicker and snark at each other effortlessly, but he gets the feeling they might be having more fun than the audience. Wise writes:

We’ll have to see if Brad Pitt and George Clooney are cool enough to drum up some big box office numbers before going to streaming, but either way, it looks like the fixers will be returning for Wolfs 2. Check your local listings to see how to see this action comedy in its limited release on September 20, or fire up Apple TV+ starting September 27.

In the 2000s, George Clooney and Brad Pitt became an iconic on-screen duo because of the Ocean’s trilogy and the Coen Brothers’ Burn After Reading. Now, the two real-life pals are teaming up again for the 2024 movie release Wolfs for Apple. Now, the film's writer/director Jon Watts has opened up about how he nabbed the actors for his original action comedy, and there’s a hilarious way it all came together.

Jon Watts is famously the filmmaker behind the Tom Holland-led Spider-Man movies. Following the behemoth success of No Way Home, he decided to step away from Marvel Studios and pursue Wolfs. The writer/director first pitched the movie to George Clooney, and here’s how Watts described that meeting to THR:

The two-hander follows two fixers who usually work alone and find themselves having to work together after they are both hired for the same job.

But after Watts got Clooney on board, he was warned by the actor about pitching to Pitt:

Jon Watts recalled not sleeping the night before due to George Clooney’s words about what it would take to get Brad Pitt for Wolfs. So, he was surprised when the Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood actor jumped on the call and said this before he even had a chance to make his case:

A stunned Jon Watts then asked if Brad Pitt would still like to hear the pitch he had prepared for him. Here’s how the actor apparently responded:

That’s right, the two buddies actually pranked the Wolfs filmmaker into believing that Pitt would play hardball, when, in reality, Clooney was going to call him up and get him invested from the beginning. Classic.

Now, it’s not entirely surprising that this happened, given that the two actors are both rather infamous for pranks. For example, on Ocean’s 12 Pitt got Clooney really good by putting out letters to the crew about how he preferred to be named, and it made the Danny Ocean actor “the maddest” Matt Damon had ever seen him.

While filming Wolfs, Clooney and Pitt apparently had a blast working together again, especially considering they are longtime friends. So much so that they started talking about a sequel for Wolfs, which has since been greenlit. Therefore, even though Watts probably didn't love getting pranked, it was very worth it in the long run and hilarious in hindsight.

To see how Pitt and Clooney's famous friendship is translated onto the screen for this film, check out the Wolfs trailer below:

Man, is it great to see these movie stars back in the same film? It’s just too bad Wolfs is only going to have a limited theatrical release before arriving to those with an AppleTV+ subscription. You can look for it on your local big screen on September 20 before it hits streaming on September 27.

When the first trailer for Wolfs starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney was released, the hype for their latest collaboration became real. The two stars have worked together a number of times before, most notably in the Ocean’s franchise, but this is the first time the two have starred alongside each other in a major way since 2008. Wolfs looks like a true return to form for the duo, and it seems like Pitt and Clooney had a blast making the action comedy. So much so that the duo is already discussing the potential for a sequel.

In a recent interview with Deadline, Clooney chatted about his most recent directorial feat, The Boys in the Boat, as well as his upcoming movie with Pitt. The two may have not starred in a movie together in quite a while, but it seems like they quickly realized they definitely should collaborate more. The Up in the Air actor explained that he found the experience on Wolfs to be very joyful, especially with talent like Jon Watts directing. He also revealed that conversations about a sequel have already started, saying:

The premise of the film already seems like a great basis for multiple films. Wolfs is about two crime scene fixers that get called into the same crime scene on the same night. They are forced to work together when the night goes awry. It’s a simple yet super effective plot that will likely be elevated by the famous charisma possessed by both Brad Pitt and George Clooney. We already know these two have great chemistry, so getting on board for a follow up film even before the movie comes out doesn’t seem that out of the question.

Clooney and Pitt are also both producers on the project, so they contributed a lot to the overall making of the film. The frequent co-stars took significant pay cuts to ensure that Wolfs was released in theaters before eventually being made available for AppleTV+ subscribers. This is likely the right move, as MCU Spider-Man trilogy director Jon Watts is known for his impeccable large-scale action sequences, and missing this being showcased on the big screen would be a shame. Hopefully, the duo is able to take in enough cash at the box office to ensure a sequel, as there's clearly a lot of interest from the talent.

Even if a Wolfs sequel doesn’t get off the ground, I’m crossing my fingers that the experience making the movie was enough to invigorate Pitt and Clooney’s love for their partnership. It would be so exciting to see them do even more projects together, and maybe even collaborate behind the scenes in other ways. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s time making Air and The Last Duel encouraged them to once again prioritize joint projects, and this could be the case for the Pitt/Clooney bromance. Something tells me there will be a lot more films starring these Burn After Reading co-stars in the near future.

You can check out Brad Pitt and George Clooney together again in Wolfs, which is set to hit theaters on September 20, 2024. For more information on other exciting titles heading to cinemas in the near future, make sure to consult our 2024 movie release schedule.

The world of Star Wars seems to have shifted from a primarily theatrical experience to that of a universe of connected streaming shows. The countless Disney+ subscribers have seen that ever since The Mandalorian became such an intergalactic hit, and now the streamer is going hard on episodic projects in that galaxy far, far away. So much so that it turns out an Amblin-type coming-of-age adventure is in the works, with another Marvel director leading the charge.

If you were wondering why Jon Watts dropped his Fantastic Four duties, this new Star Wars announcement may be part of the reason. In a gigantic spread in Vanity Fair that lays out the future of Disney’s plans for multiple series, one such show was mentioned as being “created and executive produced” by Watts, alongside writer Chris Ford. Set at some point after the Rebellion’s victory over the Empire in Return of the Jedi, the leads will apparently be four children “around 11 to 12 years old,” getting into Amblin adventures in a Star Wars setting.

From the details above, it sounds like what we should be expecting is something that Disney+ might consider as its equivalent to Stranger Things. You can practically see how this would play out: a group of scrappy youngsters, running around in an era of great turmoil and uncertainty, just bound to run afoul of Imperial remnants and foil their evil plans. It actually sounds kind of cozy, when you really think about it. 

Not only is Jon Watts a great fit for this project, but his hiring just proves that much like when Jon Favreau defected to the Star Wars machine, MCU directors get how this sort of thing works. Even before his days directing Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man trilogy, Watts’ R-rated adventure Cop Car saw two kids messing around with the titular vehicle and a sadistic officer of the law. While darker than his more PG-13 output, you could see that the director knew how to tell a story with children at the heart, no matter the rating.

Star Wars as a franchise has been all about branching out with its recent streaming output, on top of still making theatrical films with directors like Taika Waititi and Patty Jenkins. Three pretty huge experiments in that effort will be launching throughout 2022, and the upcoming Star Wars series set to drop this year include Obi Wan Kenobi with Ewan McGregor as the next entry. Digging into stories of characters other than the Skywalkers, while also tying those adventures into the main line theatrical franchise’s story, there’s a potential for these new youngsters to run into some familiar faces over time.

As there’s no set timetable for production or when to expect Jon Watts’ new Star Wars project to kick off, these details are pretty sparse for a reason. There’s even a chance that this series might not immediately get off the ground, joining concepts like Rian Johnson’s mysterious  trilogy on the proverbial backburner. As exciting as this all sounds, we’ll just have to wait and see how it all pans out in the days to come.

Meanwhile, the world of Star Wars marches on for Disney+ subscribers! All of the films, as well as TV series like The Mandolorian and The Book of Boba Fett, are currently available to stream at this very moment. May 27th will see Obi Wan Kenobi join the ranks, with the two-episode premiere kicking off further weekly drops in the limited series’ run. 

The Marvel fandom was dealt a devastating blow as it was announced Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts would relinquish his role as the director for the MCU’s Fantastic Four reboot. The Marvel film was poised to be the filmmaker’s next project after the monumental success of the third Spider-Man film. Fans were waiting to hear more details about Watts’ plans when the unexpected news broke. As soon as the announcement dropped, the heartbreak over Fantastic Four gave away to a new question… is Spider-Man 4 still going to happen?

Deadline was the first to report Watts’ departure from Marvel’s first family’s MCU introduction. The decision was amicable as Marvel Studios were “supportive” of the director’s decision to step away from the project while still being optimistic about working together in the future. The Homecoming director echoed the same sentiment while calling his experience making the three Spidey films "incredible and life-changing.”  He mentioned supporting the second Fantastic Four reboot whenever it comes outs.

What Does Jon Watts' Fantastic Four Exit Mean for Spider-Man 4?

The Cop Car director stepping away from the MCU might’ve been a bad omen for the Spider-Man franchise. But Spidey fans can feel relieved as Sony Pictures and franchise producers are expecting Watts to return for the next installment. He is expected to reteam with Tom Holland and Zendaya for more web-slinging adventures. For now, he is still attached to helm the film, but if he were to leave the billion-dollar franchise, it might be later down the line.

Holland’s involvement in Spidey 4 might still be up in the air right now. He mentioned being in talks with Sony and Marvel to don the suit once again. Of course, he did also mention taking a break from acting after churning out film after film in recent years. But it seems the studios might be closer to getting the Uncharted actor to play Peter Parker again. Zendaya coming back might be even bigger news as No Way Home left MJ without any recollection of Peter at all. It will be nice to see how the next film will address the change.

Of course, it might be a while before the fourth film hits theaters as Spider-Man Across the Spider-verse was delayed until June 2, 2023, from October 7 of this year. Plus, Sony is busy building up its Spider-Man universe. Dakota Johnson and Euphoria’s Sydney Sweeney will make their comic book debut in a Madame Web spinoff set for July 7, 2023. Before the female-centric film drops, Aaron Taylor-Johnson will return to the superhero sphere as Kraven the Hunter in January 2023. Of course, Venom 3 is in the works after being teased at CinemaCon with Tom Hardy and Venom: Let There Be Carnage director Andy Serkis fully on board, and music superstar Bad Bunny will bring super-strong wrestler El Muerto to life in January 2024. So, fans might have to wait for Holland’s Spidey return for some time.

What's Next for the Spider-Man: No Way Home Director?

The filmmaker will go back to his horror roots as a producer for Final Destination 6 along with his producer wife Dianne McGunigle. The producing partners were huge fans of the original Final Destination films so the new film is bound to come from a good place.

But for his next turn in the director’s chair, Watts will direct an untitled thriller that reteams friends and Ocean’s Eleven co-stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt as two rival fixers assigned to the same job. He will pen the script while producing the project alongside Clooney and Pitt. The hot property was snatched up by Apple TV+ with a robust theatrical release as part of the deal. Giving up one project isn’t hard when you’ve got more films in the works.

You can catch up on Jon Watts’ Spider-Man trilogy by getting an Amazon Prime subscription. For more news on Fantastic Four, check back with CinemaBlend for more updates.

For a long time, the Marvel Cinematic Universe didn’t have access to the Fantastic Four, as 20th Century Fox controlled the film rights to both Marvel’s First Family and the X-Men. That’s no longer a concern after Disney acquired Fox, and it was officially announced at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019 that an MCU-set Fantastic Four reboot was in development. Roughly a year and a half later, Jon Watts was revealed to be directing the reboot, but that’s no longer happening.

Word’s come in that Jon Watts has vacated the Fantastic Four director’s chair, though not because of a falling out with Marvel Studios or anything like that. Instead, the filmmaker simply needs a break from the superhero genre after spending more than half a decade on the Tom Holland-led Spider-Man trilogy. Here’s what Watts said about his exit from the upcoming Marvel movie in a statement shared by Deadline:

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said in his own statement that collaborating with Jon Watts on Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man: No Way Home was “a true pleasure,” and while he and Marvel Studios’ other executives were looking forward to working with him on Fantastic Four, they’re “supportive of his reasons for stepping away” and hope they’ll have “the opportunity to work together again at some point down the road.” It should be noted that while Watts is gone from Fantastic Four and wants to take a breather from superheroes, that doesn’t mean he’ll be gone from the genre forever. A fourth Tom Holland-led Spider-Man movie is in “active” development, and although we don’t have any idea when it will officially get off the ground, no doubt Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures would want him back for it.

So since Fantastic Four isn’t on his radar anymore, what movie will Jon Watts tackle next? Well, it was reported last September that Watts is writing, producing and directing a movie starring Ocean’s Eleven duo George Clooney and Brad Pitt as “lone wolf fixers” who get assigned on the same job. This movie doesn’t have a title yet, but it was acquired by Apple Studios and will reportedly receive a “robust theatrical release” before being made available on Apple TV+. While a release date hasn’t been set yet, my money’s on this untitled movie being prioritized on Watts’ to-do list.

As far as the Fantastic Four reboot goes, we’re back to simply knowing that the project exists and will play another round of the waiting game to learn who takes over as the new director. This will be the fourth Fantastic Four movie to be released to the public; fifth if you’re counting the one from 1994 that never scored a theatrical release, but was circulated via bootleg copies. Our last outing with this team was in 2015’s Fantastic Four, starring Miles Teller as Mr. Fantastic, Kate Mara as Invisible Woman, Jamie Bell as The Thing, Michael B. Jordan as The Human Torch and Toby Kebbell as Doctor Doom. That take on the Fantastic Four source material was a critical and commercial disappointment, resulting in plans being scrapped for a sequel that was supposed to be released in 2017.

CinemaBlend will share who Fantastic Four’s new director is as soon as that information arrives. Until then, see what offerings in the lineup of 2022 movie releases sound appealing.

Spider-Man: No Way Home just became the most successful movie since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, and there is one actor in the movie who most definitely didn’t spend a single day on set. Thomas Haden Church, who reprised the role of Sandman from Spider-Man 3, did not reunite with Tobey Maguire during the hush-hush production of the Marvel movie. However, now we know who did take his place with the other actors: director Jon Watts. 

No Way Home’s VFX Supervisor, Scott Edelstein, recently shared how the team was able to bring back Sandman without literally bringing back Sandman. In his words: 

While speaking to Comicbook.com about the specifics of what the VFX team needed in order to bring Sandman back for No Way Home, he shared that Jon Watts would often serve as a stand-in for shot references and body performances. Edelstein continued: 

It’s quite amazing that we’ve come to the point that an actor who has a sizable role in a Marvel film doesn’t have to be on set to be part of a movie like Spider-Man: No Way Home. It’s also wild that with the amount of juggling that likely was taking place from the director’s point of view, that he had time to basically be Sandman on set at the same time. 

Thomas Haden Church’s character was in his sand form for much of Spider-Man: No Way Home, so it makes sense why the production may not have needed Church since they’d be animating him anyway. But I’ll be honest here too, the return of Sandman was sincerely a weak point in the near-flawless film. That very well may have had to do with him not being physically present. Or maybe it’s because the movie didn’t have enough for him to do? 

The VFX team also had Thomas Haden Church reference points from Spider-Man 3. And while it hasn’t been confirmed, many believe Rhys Ifans, who reprised Lizard in No Way Home, also did not come to set, but rather just did the voice-over, like Church. The scene where he goes back to being human looks suspiciously like the scene from The Amazing Spider-Man from 2012. For as big of a movie No Way Home has become, I bet Thomas Haden Church wishes he could have given a physical performance. 

The VFX team can not tout an Oscar nomination for No Way Home for Best Visual Effects. You can relive the film’s epic visuals when the movie hits digital on March 22, and Blu-Ray and DVD on April 12. 

Major spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home lie ahead. 

While Spider-Man: No Way Home provided audiences with a number of thrills, the biggest arguably had to be the inclusion of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfielld’s cinematic iterations of Peter Parker. Speculation regarding their alleged involvement circulated for months, with Garfield denying reports left and right along the way. As a result, many were certainly pleased when they did show up, and their team-up with Tom Holland’s web-slinger did not disappoint. But what was it like for director Jon Watts to actually direct the three Spider-Man? Well, it turns out, ahead of shooting their first scene together, Watts held what he now refers to as a “therapy session.”

The two veteran actors actually didn’t finalize their deals to return until later in the film shoot, so things were up and rolling by the time they donned their suits again. Though Jon Watts was clearly juggling quite a bit at that point, he still wanted to take the necessary time to work with his Peter Parkers. So he gathered the three Spideys, along with supporting actors Zendaya and Jacob Batalon, for a meeting, in which they went over the script. And it sounds like the sit-down was very intimate:

The mere thought of being in a room with the three live-action Spider-Man actors is incredibly daunting. Jon Watts is a professional, but it sounds like he could definitely understand the gravity of the moment. And thankfully, the “therapy session” proved to be helpful, as things went well when the cameras finally started rolling. In the same interview with Variety, Watts recalled shooting that first scene with the trio of heroes (which sees the veteran wall-crawlers advising the current one) and how the crew reacted to it:

I couldn’t agree more with it being a “once-in-a-lifetime” event, as I’m surely going to cherish the first moment I saw all three Spider-Man actors together on the big screen. Though it was a special experience for fans, the same was also true for the actors themselves. Andrew Garfield said yes to No Way Home because he was delighted by the idea of having the three Peters meet up. He was also drawn to the themes of brotherhood and mentorship that were present within the screenplay. In addition, he had some great convos with his Spidey brethren and even humorously became jealous of Holland’s suit due to its practicality. 

Tobey Maguire, the OG big-screen wall-crawler, also enjoyed working on the superhero threequel. Unlike the Amazing Spider-Man star, Maguire was able to keep a lower profile in the lead-up to the film’s release, which led to less hounding from the press and fans regarding his involvement. Like his co-star, however, he also had to deal with the pitfalls that come with redonning the suit, though he ultimately viewed it as a blessing and a sweet part of the experience. 

Whether we see the two actors spin their webs again is anyone’s guess at this point. Andrew Garfield is open to returning to the role, though nothing appears to be set at this point. Meanwhile, some fans believe Tobey Maguire’s Spidey could appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness this year, but that’s simply speculation at this point. Fans will likely continue to ponder the future but, right now, I’m just glad that Jon Watts and co. were able to find a way to bring the beloved actors back for the final installment in Tom Holland’s “Homecoming” trilogy.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is still playing in theaters. And if you're looking forward to more from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, be sure to check out CinemaBlend's list of upcoming Marvel movies.

Two tried and true genres currently killing it at the box office as superhero movies and horror flicks. Just watch how Scream and Spider-Man: No Way Home have been duking it out for the #1 spot. The latter movie was helmed by Jon Watts, but what’s happening with his Fantastic Four movie? Here’s the latest.

Ever since Disney acquired 20th Century Fox and its properties, comic book fans have been waiting for the Fantastic Four and other Marvel characters to finally join the MCU in upcoming superhero movies. Moviegoers were psyched that Jon Watts would be directing the upcoming Fantastic project, although the timing seemed up in the air after it was revealed that he’s also producing a new Final Destination movie. Luckily, there are some answers on that front.

According to Variety the new Fantastic Four will likely still be Jon Watts’ next directorial project, with some fans hoping Tom Holland pops up as Spider-Man. He’ll only be producing and not helming Final Destination, so the filmmaker should be able to balance both projects. Although there still isn’t a date or timeline attached to when his next Marvel project will start coming together.

This clarification is sure to be a relief to some moviegoers, who are dying to see the likes of Reed Richards and Sue Storm within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The absence of both the Fantastic Four and X-Men has definitely been noticeable, and it’s been years since Fox’s acquisition was made official. But it doesn’t seem like Kevin Feige and the folks at Marvel Studios are trying to rush anything.

Jon Watts’ involvement in both Final Destination and Fantastic Four is just the latest example of how often horror and superhero projects connect. The great Sam Raimi is behind the camera for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, while IT filmmaker Andy Muschietti is directing the Flash movie for DC. We’ll just have to wait and see exactly when these two highly anticipated Watts projects arrive in theaters.

Given how Spider-Man: No Way Home has only been out in theaters for a month, it makes sense that Jon Watts might still be putting his main focus on that record-breaking blockbuster. He did the impossible with the multiversal story, which united three generations of Peter Parker and their villains. And it ended up being one of the biggest money makers in the entire MCU.

Aside from the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, there’s another major 20th Century Fox hero whose future remains unclear: Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool. Despite the first two movies’ massive success, there hasn’t been any news about his upcoming role in the MCU. Although he did recently appear in a quick short opposite Taika Waititi’s Korg.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is still in theaters and making a ton of money at the box office. Be sure to check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience. 

Jon Watts has become one of the Marvel Cinematic’s staple filmmakers in recent years. In addition to having directed all of the Tom Holland-led Spider-Man movies, Watts has also been attached to helm the superhero franchise’s Fantastic Four reboot since December 2020. But before he turns his attention to Marvel’s First Family, Watts is taking a trip to Horrorville to help revive the Final Destination franchise that launched in 2000.

It’s been announced that Jon Watts has boarded Final Destination 6 as a producer. He’ll be joined on the producing front by his wife and partner, Dianne McGunigle, as well as Craig Perry and Sheila Hanahan Taylor, with former having been part of this horror franchise since the beginning and the latter having come aboard on Final Destination 2. Watts also wrote the Final Destination 6 treatment that Lori Evans Taylor and Guy Busick based their script on. Here’s what Watts had to say about his involvement in an official statement (via Variety):

Each of the first five Final Destination movies followed a group of people who manage to escape death after an individual experiences a premonition and warns them about what’s to come. Unfortunately, the members of said group later end up dying anyway from a series of increasingly bizarre accidents. We last revisited this horror property in 2011, with Final Destination 5 being met with mixed positive reception and making nearly $158 million worldwide. Horror veteran Tony Todd appeared in the first, second and fifth movies as William Bludworth, who knows the most about Death and its efforts to always collect what it’s owed.

Word came in back in 2019 that Final Destination 6 was in development, with Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, who wrote four Saw movies together, being originally hired to pen the screenplay. Plot details for the next Final Destination movie are still being kept secret (outside of possibly focusing on first responders), but this entry is expected to be a re-imagining of the franchise, though whether that means it will be a full-blown reboot or maintain direct ties with its five predecessors remains to be seen. Final Destination 6 will also premiere exclusively on HBO Max rather than play in theaters first.

Jon Watts is coming off of the massive success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which has been met with critical acclaim and made over $1.5 billion worldwide. Although a fourth Tom Holland-led Spider-Man movie is being actively developed, between his work on Final Destination 6 and Fantastic Four, as well as planning to direct Ocean’s Eleven duo George Clooney and Brad Pitt in an untitled thriller, he may not have the time to revisit the Web-Slinger. Watts’ other filmmaking credits include Clown and Cop Car.

As soon as more details about Final Destination 6 come in, including when it will drop on HBO Max, we’ll let you know. In the meantime, figure out which of this year’s movies catch your eye with our 2022 release schedule.

SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains massive spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home. If you have not yet seen the film, proceed at your own risk!

As Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: No Way Home unfolds, it becomes apparent that not everything is going to be tied up with a neat bow at the end of the third act. Events of extreme consequence transpire in the blockbuster – both involving the personal life of Peter Parker and regarding the tear in the multiverse he causes – and it’s made clear throughout the story that some bells cannot be unrung. Ultimately, this feeling winds up being proven correct, as the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie's ending wraps in a place that radically changes the life of the hero played by Tom Holland.

The ending is a lot to process coming out of the film, especially when it comes to thinking about what it could mean for the future of the franchise – but in that regard we’ve got you covered. Do you have questions about the way things turn out in the movie and what it means for Spider-Man going forward? We’ve put together this feature to directly address any and all confusion. There’s a lot to dissect, so let’s start with a recap of exactly what happens at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home. 

What Happens At The End Of Spider-Man: Far From Home

As the big third act battle sequence comes to an end in Spider-Man: No Way Home, a classic good news/bad news situation emerges. The good news is that Peter Parker (Tom Holland), Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) and Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) are all able to successfully cure the collection of multiverse villains of their various afflictions and turn them back into normal humans – including Norman Osborn a.k.a. Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe). The bad news is that Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is finding it impossible to mend the tears in reality, and as a result the world is close to being invaded by a vast collection of strangers from other universes.

MCU Spider-Man (a.k.a. Spider-Man 1) is unwilling to let either everything fall apart or let all the good that has been accomplished be erased, and so he does the big hero thing: he sacrifices his life to save everybody else. The only way that Doctor Strange can fix things is by completing the spell that will result in everyone in the world forgetting who Peter Parker is, and the teenage hero agrees to let it happen. As the sun rises on New York and the destroyed additions to the Statue of Liberty, Peter says his tearful goodbyes to his fellow Spider-Men, M.J. (Zendaya), and Ned (Jacob Batalon), and Strange casts his enchantment.

In the aftermath of the spell, Peter is hopeful that he can remind his girlfriend and his best pal who he is, and he prepares a whole written speech to deliver to try and convince them. He goes to the doughnut shop where M.J. works, and for a moment he thinks she recognizes him – but she is actually looking at Ned coming up behind him. He nervously prepares to try and explain everything, but he hesitates as he recognizes how happy M.J. and Ned are as they talk about being accepted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He internally decides that they are better off not knowing him, so he pockets his speech, orders a coffee, and leaves.

Peter’s next stop is to the cemetery so that he can visit the grave of Aunt May (Marisa Tomei). Standing by his side is a mourning Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), though he also has no idea who Peter is. Happy asks how he knew May, and he lies by saying that he knew her through Spider-Man.

No longer having an identity, Peter has to start a new life alone. Though it’s not exactly clear how, he rents a crappy, run-down apartment as a living space – and one of the first things he does is get to work with a sewing machine. Making himself a brand new blue-and-red Spider-Man costume, he suits up and heads out to the streets of New York, ready to do Aunt May proud by accepting the great responsibility that comes with his great power.

It’s a big downer ending to be sure, and looking ahead it will clearly have a massive impact on the protagonist – both in his life as Peter Parker and his life as Spider-Man.

What Spider-Man: No Way Home’s Ending Means For Peter Parker

Fans love Peter Parker because of his expressive, youthful energy and ability to sling a witty quip just as quickly as a shot of webbing, but Spider-Man: No Way Home taps into what is an un-ignorable aspect of the character: his life is frequently miserable. He’s perpetually unsuccessful at balancing the two incompatible aspects of his existence – being a normal teenager/young adult and being a superhero – and he frequently has to face his struggles alone because doing otherwise would mean putting those he cares about in harm’s way.

Thanks to Peter’s budding relationship with M.J. and collaborations with the Avengers, these elements of the hero have not been prominently featured thus far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe… but that era is now over. His choice to let Doctor Strange cast his memory spell now means that every conflict he faces will be alone, and he clearly aims to keep it that way in order to keep safe those he loves.

Where Peter Parker is now is reminiscent of where Tobey Maguire’s incarnation was at the start of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 – though the difference with that film is that at least Peter had Harry Osborn (James Franco), Mary Jane (Kirstin Dunst), and Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) in his life to keep at arm’s length. The only people who are going to be a part of MCU Peter’s life going forward are those he specifically chooses to let in, and he doesn’t appear to be ready for that to happen at all right now.

Of course, his lack of interpersonal relationships represents just one seriously scary part of his life right now. If nobody knows who he is, that presumably means that he is no longer enrolled at the Midtown School of Science and Technology, which classifies him as a high school dropout. This means that he isn’t going to be able to go to college, and he is going to need to get a job so that he can pay for rent and food (perhaps the Daily Bugle is hiring freelance videographers?). His adult life is instantly starting too early, and he has no support system whatsoever to help him adjust.

Life as Peter Parker is going to be sad for a good minute, but at least he can temporarily escape from his troubles by throwing on his new costume…

What Spider-Man: No Way Home’s Ending Means For Spider-Man

Compared to the other live-action Spider-Men we’ve seen on the big screen in the 20th century, the MCU incarnation started off his superhero career with a pretty privileged existence. While it’s true that he spent a brief period swinging around New York in a homemade suit, his friendship with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) meant that he had access to endless resources – and even after Tony’s death that continued thanks to the wall-crawler’s association with Happy Hogan. He was given extremely advanced technologies that were built directly into his suit, and the use of machines with the capacity to build anything he could imagine.

Again, though, that particular era is now over. The only resources that Spider-Man has now are his aforementioned sewing machine and his impressive intellect.

Is Spider-Man going to potentially be less effective now than he used to be? That seems like a given. Not only does his latest suit contain exactly zero bells and whistles (no more drone, nano-bots, or extra legs), but he’s also going to need to figure out a way that he can produce vast quantities of web fluid so that he doesn’t constantly run out while swinging around. Spider-Man: Homecoming suggests that the formula for the stuff isn’t particularly complicated, as we see him make a batch in a drawer during chemistry class, but he’s still going to need access to a lab.

The one and only big plus is that now absolutely nobody in the world knows that Spider-Man is Peter Parker. This includes not just casual civilians and former friends, but also antagonists such as Adrian Toomes a.k.a. Vulture (Michael Keaton) and J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons). Eventually someone will find out, but for now he’s operating with a clean slate.

As for when we’ll actually get to see the next chapter of Peter Parker/Spider-Man’s story, that’s a question we can’t presently answer. The character isn’t expected to show up in any of the films set to be released between now and May 2023, and Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures have not yet announced their plans for producing the next solo movie. The safe bet is that the film will be part of the slate of titles that come out in 2024, but right now we have no official word regarding what that slate looks like.

For now we can all just enjoy Spider-Man: No Way Home, which is playing in theaters everywhere. To learn about all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films that are set to be released in the next few years, check out our upcoming Marvel movies guide, and if you’re planning a big rewatch in the wake of the new blockbuster, you should give our Marvel movies in order feature a look.

Simply put, movies do not have the capacity to recreate the experience of reading comics; the logistics are just impossible. While writers and artists behind the many, many, many titles at Marvel can monthly orchestrate all varieties of team-ups and spin stories with decades upon decades of specific precedent, live-action blockbusters are generally ensconced in limitations – from complex scheduling, to budgetary restrictions, to the simple existence of time forbidding characters from eternally existing at the same age as they do on the page.

What has made the Marvel Cinematic Universe such a special experiment, however, is that it creates the illusion that the impossible is possible. The restrictions of the medium all still exist (the franchise doesn’t have immunity from the laws of reality), but challenging logistics are matched by extreme ambition that aims to destroy as many walls as possible. The concept of assembling the likes of Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and more in a big screen canon used to be an extreme pipe dream, but that idea seems exceptionally simple and obvious now that we are nearly a decade past the release of 2012’s The Avengers and have experienced everything that the MCU has accomplished, from Captain America: Civil War to Avengers: Endgame.

It’s from this still-nascent tradition that Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: No Way Home derives, and it is phenomenal. It’s a blockbuster that not only has the intention of moving forward the story of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Peter Parker in the aftermath of the character’s previous adventures, but also aims to examine the awesome and mixed history of the titular web-slinger on the big screen. It’s an exceptionally complex assignment, but one that makes the movie’s extreme accomplishments all the more impressive to behold.

Spider-Man: No Way Home begins by immediately connecting with something that has existed at the heart of the eponymous hero from the beginning of his existence: misery. Peter Parker (Tom Holland) may be a fun-loving quip machine, but he is also a teenager who would love to have a normal existence and can’t because of the responsibilities that come with his special gifts. And while he is typically also tortured by the fact that he has to keep his real identity a secret from those who would harm the people he loves, things are made a thousand times worse after controversial media mogul J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) reveals Peter’s name and face to the world.

It’s bad enough that the kid can’t go anywhere in public without people snapping photos or leveling accusations at him, but a far worse source of pain for him is the effect that the news is having on Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), his girlfriend M.J. (Zendaya), and his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon). They are also harassed and are deemed guilty by association, and a true gut punch is delivered when Peter, M.J., and Ned all get rejected by their dream school, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, specifically because of their association with Spider-Man.

Not wanting to cause any more pain, Peter ventures over to 177A Bleecker Street to pay a visit to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) – the two of them having previously fought side-by-side in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. In an attempt to alleviate everyone’s suffering, the young hero requests that the wizard cast a spell that makes everyone in the world forget who is under Spider-Man’s mask… but things go sideways when he alters his wishes mid-procedure, hoping that Aunt May, M.J., Ned, and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) can be exceptions to the brainwashing. On top of this indecision causing the magic to fail, Strange’s operation results in a number of fractures in the multiverse, allowing reality to be invaded by certain other notable individuals who possess the knowledge of who the friendly neighborhood wall-crawler really is.

Spider-Man: No Way Home faithfully adds to the awesome legacy of the character while also successfully improving elements of the past.

It’s no secret at this point that Spider-Man: No Way Home is stacked with villains who were previously established in the non-MCU Spider-Man movies – specifically those directed by Sam Raimi and Marc Webb – and while this creates an interesting juggling act for the film, much of what is impressive about it is both how it handles all of them, and how it puts the story in a position to reflect on the totality of the character’s big screen legacy. In addition to each of the antagonists properly getting their own special roles to play, their relationships to Peter Parker and their circumstances each have their own way at getting at the core of who Spider-Man is, and it’s a brilliant celebration. Though he is surrounded by conflict, he has a deeply embedded utilitarian philosophy that demands that he always try and do the greatest good for the greatest number (even if it means expanding his aforementioned personal misery).

It surely goes without saying that it is utterly delightful to see Alfred Molina’s Otto Octavius/Doc Ock and Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osborn/Green Goblin back in action, as those interpretations of the comic book characters left an indelible mark on pop culture in the early aughts, but what is actually impressive is seeing Spider-Man: No Way Home offer redemption for the villains from the… less appreciated Spider-Man movies. In this respect, Jamie Foxx’s Max Dillon/Electro benefits the most, as it strips away all of the unnecessary goofiness from Amazing Spider-Man 2 and unleashes a legitimate threat, but Thomas Haden Church’s Flint Marko/Sandman and Rhys Ifans’ Curt Connors/Lizard both get proper, exciting roles to play in the aftermath of Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man, respectively.

The movie is the most emotional MCU Spider-Man movie yet.

Following Spider-Man: Homecoming  and Spider-Man: Far From Home, Jon Watts successfully delivers many of the key elements fans expect from the series – as there are thrilling, carefully choreographed action sequences that make you want to leap from your seat, and a spectacular number of laugh-out-loud moments – but it also stands apart by being the most somber story we’ve seen yet centering on Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. The threats are more extreme than anything he’s previously faced alone, but also amped way up are the emotional stakes and maturity – the protagonist plunged into multiple circumstances and decisions that fans will register with a pain in the middle of one’s chest. More important than anything else, it’s all earned.

Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Alfred Molina are all remarkable, but Willem Dafoe is the MVP.

An abundance of witty humor and sharp, character-driven drama means that the entire cast has fantastic material to work with in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Tom Holland delivers a wonderful turn that demonstrates fantastic evolution for the character; Zendaya gets a more substantial role as M.J. that highlights her fantastic weird energy; Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May gets a much appreciated enhanced role that delivers more agency and personality; and Benedict Cumberbatch is as funny as we’ve seen him in anything before. Just as he stole the show in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, however, the most phenomenal presence in the cast is Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osborn, who flips from innocent to psychotic with genius ease portraying the split personality villain. Every moment you’re watching him turns the screen into an eye magnet, and if there’s anything to complain about it’s that there isn’t more, more, more.

Every Marvel fans in the world has high expectations for Spider-Man: No Way Home, and expectations can be a devilish thing. While studios will always encourage them as a means of getting butts in seats, they can often be the downfall of a much-hyped project, as what is presented cannot live up to what exists in one’s imagination. It’s a subject that is directly addressed by Zendaya’s M.J. in the new film – who repeatedly remarks that if one expects disappointment one can never be disappointed – but such a pessimistic perspective is unwarranted in this particular case. Jon Watts’ blockbuster is the movie that audiences are presently mentally preparing themselves for, and one of the greatest Marvel adventures to date.

It’s tough to forget the electric best-friend chemistry George Clooney and Brad Pitt gave off in the Ocean’s movies as their first collaboration, Ocean’s Eleven, turns 20 years old later this year. But as it turns out, we won’t have to forget. The massively popular actors are planning to reunite on screen for an untitled thriller being orchestrated by the writer/director behind the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies.

Jon Watts is reportedly writing, directing and producing a movie that will star George Clooney and Brad Pitt together again. Once the project was made known, just about every studio and streaming service jumped to bid on the project, per The Hollywood Reporter. You can imagine why – a Clooney-Pitt re-team up is big, no matter what it is.

Details about the movie itself are being held close to the vest, but the movie is apparently about two “lone wolf fixers” who get assigned to the same job. That premise alone could bring together the kind of winning dynamic the pair have showcased before not only the Ocean movies, but the Coen Brothers-helmed 2008 movie Burn After Reading.

The key studios in the mix to bid on the film are Sony, Lionsgate, Apple and Netflix, but the report also names Amazon, Annapurna, Universal, MGM and Warner Bros among others interested in the movie. So yeah, pretty much everyone wants in on this. It’s being called one of the biggest movie bidding wars of 2021, and depending on how much back and forth goes down, it could make for some major paydays for Clooney and Pitt.

Both George Clooney and Brad Pitt have become quite selective with their roles in recent years, as they also produce projects and raise their respective families. Clooney’s last role was in The Midnight Sky last year, which he also directed. Pitt’s was also a space-set movie called Ad Astra the year prior, along with earning the Best Supporting Oscar for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Following Brad Pitt’s Oscar win, the actor shared that he would be acting in “fewer” roles because he has other things he wanted to do. It definitely makes one curious about what exactly we're in for with this movie they’ve both signed on to as actors, along with serving as producers as well. As for Jon Watts, the filmmaker has been busy at work with Marvel making a Spider-Man trilogy including Homecoming, Far From Home and the upcoming No Way Home.

Jon Watts previously made a movie called Cop Car with Kevin Bacon back in 2015, and is also working on the next Fantastic Four movie. The filmmaker has a good track record so far, but it'll be curious what he’ll be like outside of the Marvel machine and alongside two of the greatest actors of our time, George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

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As far as Marvel characters go, Spider-Man is definitely one of the most beloved. It’s likely for this reason that anticipation for Spider-Man: No Way Home is at a fever pitch, especially now that the first trailer has finally arrived. Unfortunately, a low-res version of said trailer leaked a few days prior, and now director Jon Watts hilariously poked fun at said leak.

Just a few days before Spider-Man: No Way Home’s trailer officially arrived, it unfortunately made its way online. One of the versions going around was a recording of the clip playing on an iPhone, making the contents nearly impossible to see. Jon Watts has delightfully referenced that bootleg in his own response to the trailer, check it out below:

I mean, how can you not love this guy? While Jon Watts and the folks at Sony were no doubt disappointed to see the trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home get leaked, it looks like they ultimately had the last laugh. After all, the official version already has a whopping 41 million views at the time of writing this story.

The above post comes to us from Jon Watts’ personal Instagram account. In it we see the thrilling first trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home. Well... sort of. Because we’re actually viewing the clip through five different screens. It’s kind of like having your own multiverse IRL.

Tom Holland’s time in the MCU is available to be re-watched on Disney+. You can use this link to sign up for the streaming service.

As previously mentioned, the trailer leak for Spider-Man: No Way Home doesn’t seem to have negatively affected the official version. Fans have dissected every frame that’s currently available, resulting in even more fan theories. As a reminder, you can check it out below.

Despite being set to release in just a few months, not much has been officially confirmed relating to the contents of Spider-Man: No Way Home. This trailer seemed to confirm that the multiverse is in play, especially thanks to the appearance of Alfred Molina as Doc Ock. Plus we can see Green Goblin’s signature bombs, seemingly heralding the return of Willem Dafoe.

While the first trailer might have confirmed some theories, there are countless more. The most popular is that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield might be reprising their roles as Spider-Man. But those pair of actors were noticeably missing from this first Spider-Man: No Way Home clip. We’ll just have to wait and see as the film gets ever closer to theaters.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is currently set to arrive in theaters on December 17th. In the meantime, check out the 2021 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.

For more than a decade now, comic book fans have been wondering when the Fantastic Four will make their debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And while it initially looked like Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and Thing would never cross paths with the likes of Captain America, Iron Man, and Spider-Man on the big screen, the past few years have shown us that anything and everything can happen if you are willing to wait.

But now with Marvel’s Fantastic Four movie being heavily teased in the final moments of the May 2021 video revealing the dates for much of the Marvel Phase 4 movies, it seems like we’re closer than ever to seeing the long-awaited debut of Marvel's First Family. So, as we look toward a fantastic future where we’ll have a release date, cast, and other key info about the Fantastic Four movie, let’s take a step back and look at how we got to this point.

A Fantastic Four Movie In The MCU Became A Reality With The 2017 Disney-Fox Merger

For nearly the first decade of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it seemed like the Fantastic Four and the X-Men (both Fox properties) would never join their comic book allies on the big screen. That all began to change in November 2017 when talk of a Disney-Fox merger began to circulate. And what initially seemed like a pipe-dream that involved millions of comic fans and media speculation on how 20th Century Fox properties could mesh with Walt Disney’s, the landmark deal was reached the following month, with shareholders giving the final approval in June 2018.

Once the transition was completed in March 2019, it became apparent that a Fantastic Four movie was now a “when” opposed to an “if,” but it still remained to be seen just how the iconic foursome would be introduced in the MCU.

Kevin Feige Hinted At A Fantastic Four MCU Movie At Comic-Con 2019

The buzz surrounding a Fantastic Four movie in the MCU reached new heights at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con during the Marvel Studios panel where in addition to releasing ton of information about upcoming Marvel movies like Black Widow, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Blade, Kevin Feige teased the introduction of both the X-Men and the Fantastic Four:

At the time, Kevin Feige made it sound as if the Fantastic Four movie wouldn’t come to the MCU until Phase 5 (which would probably be 2024 at the earliest), but with the film being heavily teased in the years following the merger, it seems like it will be earlier than expected.

In December 2020, Spider-Man Director Jon Watts Was Tapped To Helm The Fantastic Four Movie

The Fantastic Four movie got its biggest update yet in December 2020 when the official Marvel Studios Twitter account revealed that Jon Watts, who directed Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home, had been tasked with bringing Marvel’s First Family to the MCU. And although the six-second teaser accompanying the tweet didn’t reveal much, it did give fans a look at the Fantastic Four logo, which is honestly pretty, pretty great.

Marvel Reportedly Started Meeting With Writers For Fantastic Four In Early 2021

Just two months after Jon Watts was hired to direct the Fantastic Four movie, it appeared as if Marvel wasn’t wasting anytime getting the ball rolling on one of the most anticipated comic book movies in recent memory. In February 2021, Deadline’s Justin Kroll sent out the following tweet claiming the studio was in the process of working with writers:

It should be noted that shouldn’t be considered a done-deal as there haven't been any more official updates on that report, but at least it sounds like the studio is pushing forward with the project, even if it will be some time before we see the Fantastic Four make their MCU debut.

Marvel Has Yet To Announce A Fantastic Four Release Date But It Could Be Part Of Phase 4

We are still a long way from seeing Fantastic Four in theaters, but it might be sooner than we originally expected considering the movie was once again teased by Marvel Studios, this time in the amazing Marvel hype video released in May 2021. In the three-minute sizzle reel, fans were treated to clips from all of the 2021 releases (Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Eternals) as well as title cards and release dates for the 2022 and 2023 titles. The only movie to get mentioned that doesn’t have a release date was Fantastic Four. Bring on the speculation…

Marvel currently has plans to release a film on July 2023 and another that November, which could open the door for Marvel’s First Family to take one of those spots, especially with the movie being so heavily teased.

We Might See Fantastic Four In The MCU Before We Get The Blade Movie

Announced at roughly the same time, the Blade and Fantastic Four movie have been tied together in their respective developments. And with two mystery Marvel films coming in July and November 2023, there’s reason to believe both will be released in a little more than two years. But, with principal photography on Blade being pushed back from September 2021 to July 2022 (not to mention the movie not being included in the Marvel hype video), there’s also reason to believe we will be seeing Marvel’s First Family before the legendary Daywalker in action. Plus, who doesn’t want to see Blade hunt vampires in the fall, as opposed to a summer release?

There Have Been Rumors About The Fantastic Four Cast But Nothing Has Been Confirmed

There have been rumors about the Fantastic Four cast ever since the MCU movie was first announced way back in the summer of 2019. There are the big ones like John Krasinski as Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic, and Emily Blunt as Sue Storm, aka Invisible Woman, but neither of those have amounted to anything (not yet, at least), leaving fans trying to figure out who’s going to be playing some of Marvel’s most iconic characters. Hell, even CinemaBlend got in on the fun when we all made our picks for the yet-to-be-announced cast.

Will Fantastic Four Be An Origin Story? You Never Know With The MCU

One of the biggest questions surrounding the upcoming Fantastic Four movie has to do with its structure, specifically if it will be an origin story. The truth is, you never really know with the MCU, as characters have been introduced in multiple ways over the years. Watching the Marvel movies in order, you will see that heroes like Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor were all given the proper origin story treatment in their respective debuts. But then there are characters like Spider-Man and Black Panther, who were already established within their respective movie’s worlds when they got their first solo movie. We will just have to wait and see with this one.

There is still so much about the Fantastic Four movie that we don’t know at this point, but whatever happens between now and its release, it will be one of the best Marvel movies when it eventually come out. Until then, you can always check out CinemaBlend’s list of upcoming Marvel TV shows.

I don’t think it’s unfair to say that Tom Holland has had a massive year with more upcoming movies on the way. Despite there being a lockdown followed by a dearth of theatrical releases, Holland has had three major movies come out during the pandemic in Chaos Walking, Cherry and The Devil All The Time. He also only recently wrapped on Spider-man: No Way Home, which means there's more on the way. Ahead of the upcoming Sony and Marvel film's release, the actor shared one detail about filming that movie that involves director John Watts and a jar of money.

Speaking as part of the promotion for his Netflix film Cherry, Tom Holland also shared some fun Spider-man set stories with British GQ including things like what it’s like to cry on command and more. He also shared one gem about filming that gives a really fun picture of what it is like to be on set with Jon Watts. Apparently the director it a fan of calling “one more take,” but according to the actor he’s often full of it when he makes that call. He also jokes about why Watts’ penchant for calling more takes is going to make him “rich.”

The whole thing is really funny, both from a standpoint of Jon Watts wanting to get the perfect shot and from Tom Holland basically instituting a swear jar system in order to limit the number of time Watts fakes him out about when they’ll be done shooting a scene. It’s worth noting that his ‘rich’ comment is him being a jokester. If anything, Tom Holland’s current career in the MCU and his penchant for taking a lot of gigs in a given year is going to actually make him rich.

Still, the jar story is still a funny one and one I hadn’t heard about the making of Sony’s Spider-Man movies before. We have, however, heard a few things about the filming of the upcoming third movie in Tom Holland’s solo outings as Peter Parker. The recently retitled Spider-Man: No Way Home wrapped filming at the very tail end of last month, but prior to that Holland was pretty good about teasing what is to come.

He’s explained how his brother landed a gig in No Way Home and has also shared details about at least one emotional scene that will be on the way in the third installation of the movie. Without sharing major plot details, he’s also talked accidents on set and whether his Spider-man mask counts as PPE protection. There’s a lot of speculation about the movie outside of what Tom Holland has actually shared about the filming experience and you can check it out with our full guide to what we know about Spider-Man: No Way Home.

At the end of the day, in general it sounds like Tom Holland, his co-stars Zendaya and Jacob Batalon, and Jon Watts pal around on set -- most of the time -- but I’m still happy the jar story is now out there. It also makes me wonder if Watts sacrifices the occasional five-dollar bill just to irritate his friendly neighborhood Spider-man. I can’t prove it or anything, but with the ribbing and pranking they seem to enjoy, I’d certainly pay $5 bucks to find out.

Tom Holland has been our newest Spider-Man for roughly five years now, and the 24-year-old actor is still having tons of fun in his dream role. The young actor is currently shooting the third film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man trilogy alongside Zendaya and Jacob Batalon, who are Tom Holland’s on-screen pals. When the three actors are together, apparently it’s all fun and games on set. This playful relationship between co-stars sure allows for great chemistry between characters, but it may be less than ideal for Spider-Man director Jon Watts, who still has to direct the three through their antics.

In a recent interview with Deadline, Tom Holland shared what it is like working on the set of the newest and third (believe it or not!) Spider-Man movie, which is yet to be titled. When asked about the most fun he has had on set, Holland says that working with Zendaya and Jacob Batalon takes the cake. In the actor’s own words:

Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Jacob Batalon are all around the same age and have now been working together through three movies, so it’s natural they would form a bond with one another. It’s just unfortunate for some of the crew that their bond may be one that’s tough to get work done while around. We can only hope that some of that bond and fun translate into the final film, however.

The three friends portray teenagers in the Spider-Man trilogy, but are themselves working to break free of their young reputations, at least on-screen. Tom Holland portrays a former medic-turned-bank-robber tackling his PTSD and drug use in Cherry, coming to theaters and Apple TV+ in just a few weeks. He also has the role of Nathan Drake announced in the film adaptation of the video game Uncharted and played alongside Robert Pattinson in the gritty The Devil All the Time.

Zendaya is also making huge leaps in her career with more mature roles. She recently appeared opposite John David Washington in Malcolm & Marie. She’s seen success with her HBO series Euphoria, and has the role of Chani in the upcoming Dune adaptation. Jacob Batalon has switched things up and tried his hand at horror with a role in the Colorado story of 50 States of Fright.

Even though the Spider-Man stars are breaking away from the kind of part they play in the franchise, it hasn’t seemed to affect the youthful playfulness that they have when brought back together for another Sony and MCU project. And while we love hearing the cast has such a tight bond with each other, it sounds like Jon Watts sure has his work cut out for him when directing the three friends.

Ever since Disney acquired 20th Century Fox, it’s been expected that the Fantastic Four would be added to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirmed as much at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, and today brings are biggest update yet on the project, as the Fantastic Four reboot has secured a director.

Already familiar with the MCU through his work on Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home and the upcoming Spider-Man 3, Jon Watts has been tapped to direct the next Fantastic Four movie. Kevin Feige announced this hiring during the Disney investor call, and this brief tease was shared:

This is the second time that filmmakers already established with the MCU has jumped over to direct a different film series within the gigantic franchise. Joe and Anthony Russo first tackled Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War, and then they helmed Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Given how Thor is the first solo superhero in the MCU to have a film series stretching past the conventional trilogy, it’s entirely possible the same could happen with Spider-Man. However, given that Jon Watts is now busy with the Fantastic Four, it looks like a different director will have to guide the Web-Slinger in this hypothetical scenario.

Ignoring their unreleased movie from 1994, the Fantastic Four have been hanging out in the cinematic realm since 2005. The original duology of movies centered on Marvel’s First Family starred Ioan Gruffud as Mr. Fantastic, Jessica Elba as Invisible Woman, Michael Chiklis as The Thing and Chris Evans as The Human Torch. Then in 2015, the franchise was rebooted, with Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell and Michael B. Jordan bringing the heroic quartet to life. However, following that movie’s critical and commercial failure, plans for a sequel were scrapped.

Which brings us to now, where, just like the X-Men, the Fantastic Four are primed to become major players in the MCU. Alas, we still don’t know yet how Marvel Studios’ depiction of the characters will differ from their predecessors… outside of their traditional power-sets, of course. It also remains to be seen who the team will battle, whether it’s the familiar Doctor Doom or a villain we haven’t seen adapted for film yet, like Mole Man or Diablo.

Finally, if you’ll indulge me in some speculation, back when Marvel Studios and Sony worked out a new arrangement for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, it was announced that in addition to Spider-Man 3, this version of the Wall-Crawler would appear in a separate Marvel Studios movie. So even though it’s unlikely Jon Watts will direct a fourth Spider-Man movie, perhaps the fact that he’s directing the Fantastic Four reboot means that Spidey could show up in that feature. After all, Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four are closely connected in the comics, and the former could easily be used as an anchor of sorts to help audiences become familiar/reacquainted with the latter.

Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates on the Fantastic Four reboot’s progress. For now, look through our Marvel movies guide to learn what else this superhero franchise has coming up.

The Amazing Spider-Man franchise was a short-lived experiment. The reboot series launched in 2012 with the intent of establishing Andrew Garfield as the new big screen webslinger, but following the disappointing Amazing Spider-Man 2 all of the future plans were scrapped and a road was paved for Spidey to make his way to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As it turns out, however, that particular universe isn't totally dead, as apparently Jamie Foxx, who played the villainous Max Dillon a.k.a. Electro in Amazing Spider-Man 2, is now in talks to reprise the role in director Jon Watts' upcoming Spider-Man: Far From Home sequel starring Tom Holland.

This shocking news comes to us from The Hollywood Reporter, and will surely generate a large number of "WTF?" responses. There aren't any details made available in the trade report regarding how exactly the character is going to be appearing, or if The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will be considered canonical, but hopefully we'll start to get more details relatively soon.

What makes this news particularly interesting is the existence of the mid-credits scene in Spider-Man: Far From Home, which brought back another important character from a previous Spider-Man live-action series: J.K. Simmons' J. Jonah Jameson. It's worth noting that the loudmouth journalist appears to be a different version of Jameson than the one that was featured in Sam Raimi's trilogy of wall-crawler movies, as he is sporting a completely different hairstyle and runs the Daily Bugle as a news program instead of a newspaper, and it makes one wonder if the upcoming Spider-Man 3 could possibly take a similar tactic with Jamie Foxx's Electro. Could he be a totally different version of the same villain?

This, of course, then leads us to the multiverse question. Fans fully embraced the big screen version of the scientific concept in 2018's animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and this development instantly makes us wonder if we could possibly be seeing a live-action version of it developing here – with the idea being that could see Jamie Foxx's Electro from Amazing Spider-Man 2 make his way from his own universe into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The timing is a bit funny, as DC Comics' upcoming solo Flash film is also going to be dabbling in the arena, specifically by featuring multiple versions of Batman, but there still remains the potential for the blockbuster to do something radically different with the ideas.

Another aspect of this development that will be interesting to gauge is how the fans react to the news. Jamie Foxx's version of Electro was not just dismissed by audiences, but also openly mocked – with many drawing rather apt comparisons between the portrayal of the character and Jim Carrey's version of The Riddler in Batman Forever (when you put them side-by-side, they have surprisingly similar arcs). Will folks be on board with Spider-Man 3 trying to attempt the resurrection? We'll have to wait and see.

The Spider-Man: Far From Home sequel doesn't currently have an official title, but production is expected to start fairly soon given that the film has a November 5, 2021 release date (though it wouldn't be surprising to anyone if that date ended up shifting given everything going on in the world). The arrival of this casting news hopefully means that we'll start hearing even more announcements very soon, so stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for all of the latest.

While the title of the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe Spider-Man sequel is currently unknown, one thought latched on to by fans is that it should find some way to include the word "Home." After all, the term has been used twice in the series thus far, with Spider-Man: Homecoming being followed by Spider-Man: Far From Home, and it might ultimately be a way to label the franchise separately from Sam Raimi's original Spider-Man trilogy, and Marc Webb's Amazing Spider-Man movies.

As of now, we don't actually know if this will come to pass, but in light of the on-going Coronavirus pandemic and social distancing that's going on, director Jon Watts is having some fun sharing a potential idea: Spider-Man: Work From Home.

There is currently a lot of fear and anxiety in the world due to the spread of COVID-19, but Jon Watts has successfully managed to put a smile on our faces with the image above. Shared by the director on Instagram, the shot comes from action figure photographer DorkLordCollectibles, who positioned his Spider-Man: Homecoming Hot Toys figure behind a scaled desk setup to create an imaginary poster for a Spider-Man: Far From Home sequel.

Obviously this is intended as a joke, but it is still interesting to think about what the plot of a film titled Spider-Man: Work From Home would be. After all, the wall-crawler is best known as a physically active hero, swinging all around the city to help people in need, and forcing him into a situation where he can only operate as a hero from the confines of his house in Queens presents an interesting challenge.

Spider-Man would wind up probably being fairly useless in a work from home scenario... but the good news is that Peter Parker wouldn't be. Not only does he have a lot of technology know-how that would allow him to do a lot of good just sitting in front of a computer monitor, but he also has solid journalistic instincts that would aid in any kind of research necessary. The film showing all this might not wind up being all that action-heavy, but it could still be rather clever and cool.

Of course, the story at the center of the next Spider-Man movie will surely be totally different, particularly given the shocking events that transpired in the mid-credits sequence of Spider-Man: Far From Home where Peter Parker's identity was revealed by Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio and J.K. Simmons' J. Jonah Jameson. With that set up, Spider-Man actually won't even be safe in the comforts of his own home, as his address is public record. So maybe the title will be more like Spider-Man: Not Even Safe At Home?

The blockbuster is supposed to go into production this summer, but given all of the big question marks surrounding how long the pandemic will impact every day life it's unclear if the movie will be able to stay on schedule. At present, Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios plan to have the Spider-Man sequel in theaters on July 16, 2021.

Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for all of the latest updates both about the project, and the impact on the film industry being made by COVID-19.

The emotions of Spider-Man fans have been all over the place for the past month. Well, actually, that's not quite true, as most of them positively hated hearing that Sony and Marvel couldn't come to a new agreement over profit sharing when discussing terms for the upcoming threequel that is set to pick up where Spider-Man: Far From Home left off. As of this morning, though, the deal is back on, and things are moving ahead at a fast pace, seeing as director Jon Watts is now, officially, in talks to return to the blockbuster franchise.

When the Spider-Man deal between Marvel and Sony broke down on August 20, Jon Watts hadn't yet signed a deal to return to the franchise he helped take to billion dollar heights when Far From Home was released this summer, so he wasn't a total lock to return. In the days after the two companies parted ways, there was even talk that they were, possibly, fighting over Watts to see which studio could keep his filmmaking prowess on its side. Fortunately, having them band together again in the name of the almighty doll...I mean, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, means that they now both get to keep him around.

That is, if Jon Watts is still on board the Spidey train (one could see him being a little gun shy right now). Deadline is hearing that it appears that the deal with Watts will be confirmed soon, with both companies waiting to finalize their co-financing for the third Spider-Man movie before reaching out to Jon Watts and getting him to sign all those dotted lines.

While it's possible that Jon Watts could say no, there's really no reason for him to at the moment. His first film for the Marvel / Sony project, Spider-Man: Homecoming, managed to revitalize the character's big screen story even though it was the third go-round of franchises for the teenaged web head. Homecoming did well with critics and audiences, pulling in $880 million worldwide, while Far From Home became Sony's highest grossing film ever with $1.13 billion worldwide. See all the good you've done, Jon Watts? Don't let us down, sir.

Of course, even without director Jon Watts at the helm, Spider-Man is now back on the road of continuity with the MCU, which is the main thing fans have been protesting and praying for since news of the Sony / Marvel split rang out. It would appear that Sony, in the process of developing its own Spidey-verse with films like Venom, its coming sequel, Morbius and several others, may have wanted to get some on-screen Peter Parker time, because part of today's announcement implied that Tom Holland's Spider-Man would show up somewhere in Sony's (currently Spidey-less) movies.

If Jon Watts returns to the franchise (and I certainly hope he does), it will continue to allay fears that everything that has been built for Spider-Man in the MCU since 2015 won't be wasted. It would also mark the third Spider-Man film franchise to round out its set of movies with the same director (with Sam Raimi and Mark Webb completing the others), and that's just a nice bit of symmetry that lovers of everyone's favorite spider-powered kid can enjoy.

Be sure to stay tuned to Cinemalend for the latest on the currently untitled Spider-Man: Far From Home sequel. In the meantime, be sure to check out what you can see on the big screen in the coming months with our 2019 new movie release schedule!

At the beginning of this week, the future seemed bright for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe… well, maybe not for the character himself, who was dealt a surprise blow in the Spider-Man: Far From Home mid-credits scene, but at least for the fans who were looking forward to more of his adventures in this franchise. Then came the news that Disney/Marvel and Sony are no longer working together on future live action Spider-Man movies, thus concluding an approximately four and a half year-long cooperation period.

Now apparently there’s a tug-of-war battle going on between Marvel and Sony over director Jon Watts, who helmed Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home. While Tom Holland is reportedly still attached to do at least two more Spider-Man movies, Watts was only signed on for the first two movies, and it’s been unclear if he’d be back for a third.

According to Deadline, Jon Watts is currently being courted by Marvel, wanting to keep him in the MCU rather than stick around with Sony. Needless to say that given the success of his previous Spider-Man movies, Sony would rather him stick with the Web-Slinger, but Watts hasn’t made a decision either way, though he has “enviable leverage” with whatever he decides to tackle next, even if it’s something at a different studio.

More often than not you don’t get to see a director stick around for the entirety of a superhero film series, but Spider-Man has had better luck in that regard. Sam Raimi helmed all of the original Spider-Man trilogy, and while he’d planned to make Spider-Man 4, eventually he withdrew from the fourthquel due to creative differences, resulting in its cancellation. Marc Webb directed both Amazing Spider-Man movies and was going to stick around for The Amazing Spider-Man 3, buy Sony’s deal with Marvel killed that iteration of the franchise.

Having Jon Watts at least wrap up his Spider-Man film series, if not stick around for a fourth movie, would be preferable for Sony. Naturally though, if Jon Watts decided to take Disney’s offer or look for work elsewhere, then obviously Sony would find someone else to take the live action Spider-Man reins. This character is too popular to put on the proverbial shelf for an extended period of time.

It’s only been three days since the Marvel/Sony disagreement over Spider-Man first became public, and it doesn’t look like it’ll be leaving the news cycle anytime soon. According to the original report, Disney, which has all the Spider-Man merchandising rights and collected 5% of first dollar gross on the live action movies, wanted to arrange a 50/50 co-financing deal with Sony on future live action Spider-Man movies. Sony balked at this deal and wanted to keep things the same, resulting in the two sides going their separate ways.

Deadline’s latest report offers an update on the money front, claiming that Disney initially offered a 25% co-financing stake, and when Sony didn’t respond, that’s when the Mouse House raised the offer to 50%. There’s also been word that Dark Phoenix bombing at the box office also played a role in this Spider-Man fiasco, with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to focus on the new properties acquired from the Fox merger, specifically the X-Men.

While it’s unclear if the X-Men of it all truly did factor into the Spider-Man decision, money is definitely looking to be the root cause, and it’ll be money that leads Jon Watts to decide where he works next. Hell, assuming there’s even a chance that Disney/Marvel and Sony can patch things up and meet at the negotiating table again, it’ll be money that solves that problem too.

Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for updates about Spider-Man’s film future as they come in. For now, keep track of what’s coming out the rest of this year with our 2019 release schedule.

If you've seen Spider-Man: Far From Home, you've probably picked up on how much fun everyone had making it. Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jacob Batalon...they all eat up their lines and spit them out with gleams in their eyes and the appropriate emotions on their faces. But when it came to Tom Holland and Jake Gyllenhaal trying to do a scene together, efficiency and expediency were out of the question. According to Gyllenhaal, he and Holland could not, for the life of them, keep it together while filming a small moment. I smell a bromance?

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Quentin Beck, a talented illusionist who, like so many other MCU villains, had been slighted by Tony Stark. You can imagine, then, that meeting Stark's former charge would be a big moment for Beck and the film as a whole. Gyllenhaal (who apparently doubles as a puppy playground) recently revealed to Buzzfeed that filming with Tom Holland was next to impossible. Why? Check out what he had to say:

40 takes for an introduction? That's absolutely hilarious, and he's totally correct, too. The finished cut doesn't linger on pleasantries. Maybe because its good-natured stars and their funny bones wouldn't allow it? Either way, the version we saw in theaters is probably the best version of what they filmed. Especially considering the fact that neither Holland nor Gyllenhaal was interested in taking the scene seriously. Sounds like they understood the film's tone better than anyone.

It's unclear whether Beck will return or whether we'll get another villain for the inevitable sequel. The villainous illusionist apparently died after one of his drones shot him, but given his knack for tricks, it wouldn't surprise me if that was an illusion, too. Our hope is that Beck will return (maybe as a member of the Sinister Six?) to wreak more havoc and share more of that irresistible onscreen chemistry with Tom Holland. I love watching them banter, and a billion dollars and some change says audiences enjoy it, too.

Spider-Man: Far From Home is now playing in theaters. Have you seen it? It's pretty great. Plus, it's got one of the most surprising mid-credits scenes in the MCU. Keep up with everything heading to the big screen this year with our 2019 movie release schedule.

After two weekends swinging high atop the summer box office, Sony’s Spider-Man: Far From Home finally ceded the crown to Disney’s The Lion King, which enjoyed the biggest opening weekend ever in July. In recognition of this, Spider-Man: Far From Home director Jon Watts found the perfect image for the box office battle between the Lion and the Spider. Check it out:

Clearly this isn’t Spidey’s first rodeo. He’s tangled with the king of the jungle before, albeit in the pages of comics and not in the realm of massive and expensive summer tentpoles. Whether in comics or at the box office, lion’s are not easy to handle. Spider-Man riding a lion is the perfect response to The Lion King unseating Far From Home at the box office and the two films battling for moviegoer's hard-earned dollars.

This image from Jon Watts’ Instagram is so perfect that I really wonder if the director is just so immersed in Spider-Man’s extensive history that he knew this panel existed, and, whether he knew about it or not, how long it took him to find it. Regardless, it is a great way for Jon Watts to graciously congratulate fellow MCU director Jon Favreau on the hugely successful opening weekend of The Lion King.

Yet, while the image depicts Spider-Man fighting a lion and The Lion King and Spider-Man: Far From Home are both vying for the audience’s dollar at theaters, this box office battle is one where both combatants are already winners. Far From Home opened to over $185 million over the long 6-day Independence Day holiday. It is now nearing $1 billion and stands as the highest-grossing Spider-Man movie ever.

The Lion King also opened to $185 million, but did it in only 3 days. The remake of the 1994 Disney animated classic has now made $531 million worldwide. The two films didn’t open on the same weekend, although that would have been quite the interesting battle, but there has obviously been plenty of interest and money to go around to make both Spider-Man: Far From Home and The Lion King huge successes.

These two films will continue to battle it out domestically and abroad until the next blockbuster, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, comes out on August 2, although we’ll see if Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood can make an impact this weekend.

While on the surface, Jon Watts’ post is just an acknowledgement and congratulations for The Lion King, many users on Instagram couldn’t help but wonder if the panel was also a reference to the next Spider-Man film. Although I couldn’t figure out the exact issue that this panel comes from, many have taken it as one that involves Kraven the Hunter.

The Spider-Man villain and member of the Sinister Six is known for his lion’s head vest and for having a pet lion that he can command to attack his foes. Kraven is a fan favorite many would want to see in the MCU and Jon Watts himself has mentioned loving Kraven. This is probably reading too much into it, but as Spidey says in the panel above, “there’s always a first time,” so maybe the Web-Slinger will face off with Kraven for the first time on the big screen in the eventual sequel to Spider-Man: Far From Home.

For now, Spider-Man will be dealing with another lion as Spider-Man: Far From Home and The Lion King continue their already impressive runs.

Both films are now playing. Check out our premiere guide to see what’s headed to theaters the rest of this year and for all the latest movie news, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.

Warning: The Following contains Spider-Man: Far From Home SPOILERS!

Modern blockbuster filmmaking is a lot like Mysterio’s illusions in Spider-Man: Far From Home -- some of it is real and some of it is the work of advanced technology tricking your eyes. Like any other blockbuster, Far From Home employs healthy doses of CGI movie magic, but it isn’t all just 0s and 1s and pixels. Director Jon Watts has shared a cool behind-the-scenes video from the making of the film, packed with real explosions. Check it out:

CGI is cool and it allows for things that would never be possible in a film otherwise, but nothing beats the tangible realism of practical effects. Even in a raw form like this, without CGI to gussy everything up, these explosions and seeing the cars flip looks positively awesome. So it is cool that Spider-Man: Far From Home went practical in this situation where it was possible.

Jon Watts captions his Instagram post “This was fun” and it certainly looks like it. Seeing stuff blow up is universally appealing and when you’re the one who gets to call action for the explosions to begin, it must be even better. Such are the fun toys you get to play with as a blockbuster movie director.

Beyond this tracking shot following the explosions simply looking cool, what’s particularly impressive here -- and whenever you see something like this -- is how much undoubtedly went into getting it right. First and foremost there are the safety concerns, making sure that this can be done safely and everyone is out of harm’s way.

Then there is all the work that goes into making sure everything is timed right and happens when it’s supposed to happen. Doing something like this isn’t cheap or easy and you want to get it right the first time. That means things blowing up when they’re supposed to blow up and landing the way they’re supposed to. On top of all that, the camera has to be where it needs to be in order to capture it all.

The upside to all that hard work is that when it’s all said and done, you get to blow stuff up and create an awesome cinematic spectacle. Although Jon Watts doesn’t say it in his Instagram post, this video appears to come from the third act of Far From Home when everyone is in London. Mysterio uses his drones to go after Spidey and his friends on Tower Bridge resulting in these explosions.

Spider-Man: Far From Home gave us as much to think about as any Avengers movie, and from its wild cameo in the mid-credits scene to the intriguing post-credits stinger, we have a lot of questions about what’s next for Spider-Man and the MCU at large. Hopefully we’ll get answers to some of our questions when Marvel Studios returns to Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con next weekend.

Spider-Man: Far From Home is now playing. The MCU might be done for 2019, but there are still plenty of movies to look forward to this year, check them out in our premiere guide.

Welcome to HeroBlend #63! This week, Gabe, Eric and Adrienne have their Comic-Con 2019 preview show all ready for you! First, we'll get into all the important superhero updates of the week. So, we'll be talking about Spider-Man: Far From Home's crazy box office numbers, a rumored contender for Catwoman in The Batman, how Todd Phillips didn't come up with the story for Joker, how Far From Home worked out that fantastic cameo, the villain director Jon Watts would love to have in the Far From Home sequel and more!

Now, we can get into the meat of this week's podcast and talk about San Diego Comic-Con 2019! The massive convention has been one of the main events of the year for superhero news for quite a while now, but there are several studios sitting out this year, which means we might not be getting updates on quite a few of the most anticipated films of the next couple of years.

We will be talking all about what we'll be missing at this year's Comic-Con and what it might mean for the future of the event, plus we'll go over what CinemaBlend will be doing at the convention, with Eric and Gabe giving some details on what they'll be involved in there. We do know that Marvel will be there for a long panel conversation, and we'll get into everything they could be discussing along with what Eric thinks they'll save for D23 later this summer, and all the things he and Gabe are looking forward to at Comic-Con 2019!

Now, sit back and relax, folks, because this is one chat you're not going to want to miss. Ready to dive in? Great! Listen for yourself above!

:55 - News

31:00 - Comic-Con 2019 Preview

Now, get in on the superhero-filled fun and have a listen to the HeroBlend Podcast #63! And, be sure to subscribe to the HeroBlend Podcast on iTunes, right here, follow us on Twitter @HeroBlend and follow our hosts @eeisenberg, @HeyAJ74 and @gabeKovacs.

Warning: SPOILERS for Spider-Man: Far From Home are ahead!

During the events of Spider-Man: Homecoming, Tom Holland’s Peter Parker was romantically interested on Laura Harrier’s Liz, but our intrepid hero learning that she was the daughter of Adrian Toomes, a.k.a. The Vulture, complicated things. Now Liz and her mother are living in Oregon, hence why she wasn’t around in Spider-Man: Far From Home, but that doesn’t mean we’ll never see her again.

Director Jon Watts recently revealed that he’s thought about bringing Laura Harrier back as Liz for a third MCU-set Spider-Man movie, which hasn’t been officially announced yet, but stands a good chance of getting the green light given how Spider-Man: Far From Home has performed. As Watts put it:

With Liz Allan having been an important part of the Spider-Man mythos since the beginning, it would make sense for the MCU’s version of Liz to return at some point rather than be a one-and-done character. Granted, moving from the East to West Coast complicates her coming back into Peter Parker’s life, but since her father is still alive and in prison, at least there’s still the possibility that their paths could cross again.

While there were never any plans to bring Liz back for Spider-Man: Far From Home, it was initially reported that Michael Keaton would reprise Vulture in the sequel. However, that was later debunked, with Jon Watts saying that neither Adrian Toomes nor Mac Gargan (better known as Scorpion in the comics) came back for Far From Home because there wasn’t a good way to organically fit them into the story.

As for how Liz could stand out should she return to the MCU, one of the things that Spider-Man: Far From Home explored was the aftermath of The Blip, when those who were snapped away by Thanos at the end of Avengers: Infinity War were brought back to life five years later. Jon Watts wasn’t willing to officially label Liz as someone who was snapped away or a survivor of Thanos’ genocide, but he did acknowledge that it’d be interesting to explore the latter possibility.

Continuing in his interview with Comicbook.com, Jon Watts said about Laura Harrier:

Although Peter Parker was accompanied by numerous familiar faces during Spider-Man: Far From Home, including Ned, MJ, Flash Thompson and Betty Brant, the fact of the matter is that a lot of the folks in their class were brand new, like Brad Davis, who was a middle schooler right before they disappeared. So it would be interesting to explore the other half of that new status quo and see what Liz’s life is like as an adult.

For now, we continue waiting for Marvel and Sony’s official announcement on another live action Spider-Man movie, and from there, information on who will make up the cast, including the villain(s), will follow. As for Spider-Man: Far From Home, it’s received a lot of positive reception and has made over $588 million worldwide so far.

Be sure to read CinemaBlend’s review for Spider-Man: Far From Home if you haven’t already, and check out our Marvel movies guide to learn what this franchise has coming down the pipeline.

Spider-Man is one of the most popular Marvel heroes of all time, so his adoption into the MCU has been one of the most exciting aspects of Phase Three. Tom Holland's characterization of Peter Parker is perhaps the most accurate to its comic book roots, with the young actor already playing the role in a whopping five movies. Spider-Man: Far From Home closed out Phase Three, and brought the iconic villain Mysterio to life thanks to Jake Gyllenhaal.

Spider-Man is clearly going to be a major presence in Phase Four, especially given the events of Far From Home's mid-credits scene. As such, fans already wondering which of Peter Parker's rogues might make their way to the big screen next. Director Jon Watts helmed both Spider-Man movies in the MCU so far, and recently offered the villain he'd most like to see in the next blockbuster:

Do you hear that sound? It's Spider-Man fans everywhere jumping with joy. Kraven is one of the most iconic of Spidey's foes on the page, so it's particularly exciting that Jon Watts is interested in adapting him for the big screen. Although he admits it might be a challenge.

For those unfamiliar, Kraven is a skilled tactician and hunter who has a particular grudge against the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. First appearing in 1964, Kraven is a big game hunter who believes Spider-Man is the ultimate prey. His skill and weaponry has proved a consistent challenge for the wall crawler-- especially when he's teamed up with the rest to the Sinister Six.

Kraven the Hunter has already been adapted in mixed media a few times, just never in a big blockbuster event. He was a recurring character in the Spider-Man animated series, and has been made into various other small screen and video game projects. But he's been seen in live-action, despite multiple filmmakers attempting to do so.

Related: How Spider-Man: Far From Home Perfectly Sets Up A Third Chapter

The first of these instances came with The Amazing Spider-Man franchise. Rhino's appearance in the sequel's final moments was meant to usher in the Sinister Six, including Kraven The Hunter. Unfortunately, the franchise ended before a threequel could be produced, further delaying the villain's big screen debut. What's more, Black Panther director Ryan Coogler originally wanted Kraven as the villain for his Marvel debut.

In his same conversation with Uproxx, Jon Watts went on to explain how he approaches villains in the Spider-Man franchise, saying:

While Jon Watts would love to bring Kraven into the fold for Spider-Man's third MCU solo flick, it seems the director is going to make sure the right villain is brought into the story, to properly move Peter Parker's ongoing narrative forward. Kraven's possible inclusion presents its own set of challenges for Watts as a filmmaker, although he might be a great choice given the surprise ending (and cameo) of Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Spider-Man: Far From Home is in theaters now. Be sure to check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

So many of you caught up with Spider-Man: Far From Home over the holiday weekend. The latest Marvel Studios movie (produced in conjunction with Sony Pictures) took the top spot at the box office, and put a cap on what has been known as Phase Three of the MCU, picking up the pieces from Avengers: Endgame, but also setting old Webhead (Tom Holland) on his own path, one that was drastically altered by the mid-credits sequence – a total game changer.

Naturally, the moment the ReelBlend guys got a chance to sit down with Spider-Man: Far From Home director Jon Watts and discuss spoilers, we HAD to start with that scene. The re-introduction of a very famous face into the MCU, and a bombshell dropped right on Spidey’s head, right as order was starting to be restored into his friendly neighborhood.

Listen here to the SPOILER-FILLED conversation between ReelBlend co-hosts Sean O’Connell, Jake Hamilton and Kevin McCarthy, with Spider-Man: Far From Home director Jon Watts:

The ReelBlend podcast is a weekly conversation of all things film. Hosted by Sean, Kevin and Jake, it often gives listeners a peek behind the curtain of the press-junket world, where filmmakers and celebrities open up about their process, and the making of some of your favorite movies.

In recent episodes, the ReelBlend podcast has discussed Alita: Battle Angel with Robert Rodriguez, the John Wick franchise with Chad Stahelski, and Avengers: Endgame with Joe and Anthony Russo.

To this list, we now proudly add Jon Watts, who agreed to spill about spoilers for Spider-Man: Far From Home, so long as we held them until today. Now the conversation is wide open, so if you caught Spidey’s latest adventure, give this one a listen.

In Spider-Man: Far From Home, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is trying to move on following the death of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). He’s given the chance of a lifetime, to take a European vacation with his high-school classmates… and possibly woo his love interest, MJ (Zendaya).

But trouble follows Peter overseas, as Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) confronts the wallcrawler and recruits him to fight off the Elementals alongside Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal).

As mentioned, the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home will catapult Spidey and his closest friends and family members into unsafe territories, and it will be exciting to find out where Marvel and Sony want to take the characters. We may know more in a few weeks, once Marvel holds their latest panel at San Diego Comic Con on Saturday, July 20.

Until then, catch up on previous episodes of the ReelBlend podcast by clicking here.

Spider-Man has one of the biggest rogues gallery in comic book history, and among the most notable of this group are Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus, who’ve antagonized Marvel’s Wall-Crawler for nearly all of his existence. Both of these characters have already been adapted for film, but with Spidey now being part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the option to give moviegoers new versions of these villains is on the table.

Thus far, with the exception of Sandman serving as inspiration for the Earth Elemental in Spider-Man: Far From Home, all the Spider-Man villains in the MCU have been people who haven’t appeared in movies already. So what are the chances this franchise could bring back Green Goblin and/or Doctor Octopus? Here’s what Far From Home director Jon Watts had to say to CinemaBlend’s own Sean O’Connell on the matter:

Jon Watts is right that there are still some Spider-Man villains who haven’t gotten their live action due yet, like Kraven the Hunter, Chameleon, Spider-Slayer, Hammerhead and Tombstone. Let’s also not forget that while we were introduced to Mac Gargan in Spider-Man: Homecoming, he still hasn’t officially become Scorpion yet.

Still, at this point it might be worth considering reintroducing moviegoers to Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus. It’s been 15 years since Alfred Molina played Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2, and while Chris Cooper did cameo as Norman Osborn in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, it was his son Harry, played by Dane DeHaan who became the Green Goblin. So as far as Norman is concerned, we’ve only seen him become Green Goblin on the big screen once, with Willem Dafoe delivering that creepy performance in 2002’s Spider-Man.

But, as is usually the case, the MCU won’t bring these characters in unless there’s a story that actually warrants their presence, as opposed to being crammed in just because. As Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige put it:

It should also be noted that while it’s been a minute since Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus appeared in a live action movie, both appeared in last year’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse as employees of The Kingpin. However, this Green Goblin was a blend of his 616 and Ultimate universe incarnations, while Doctor Octopus was a woman named Olivia Octavius.

Back when the Amazing Spider-Man film series was still going, it looked like Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus were being set up to share screen time. Along with Harry Osborn becoming Green Goblin, Doc Ock’s arms were shown alongside Vulture’s wings and Rhino’s suit underneath OsCorp, foreshadowing the formation of the Sinister Six.

Alas, that continuity was scrapped in favor of bringing Peter Parker into the MCU, although there is still talk of making a Sinister Six movie set in Sony’s Marvel universe. Regardless, since Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus are two of Spider-Man’s greatest enemies, they would be welcome additions to the MCU, and I could see Norman Osborn in particular being a villain who could cause trouble for other heroes across multiple movies.

Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS for Spider-Man: Far From Home are ahead!

Of course, given the way Spider-Man: Far From Home ended, Peter Parker has made a lot of new enemies. Before dying, Quentin Beck, a.k.a. Mysterio, released doctored footage of his confrontation with the Web-Slinger in London that depicted the hero as being responsible for the Elemental attacks across Europe and his own death. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Mysterio also revealed that Peter is Spider-Man.

Thanks to The Daily Bugle (run by the always-irritable J. Jonah Jameson) broadcasting this footage to the masses, the public will now surely view Spider-Man as a villain, and Peter’s life as a high school student in Queens has also been disrupted. Between Spider-Man often having a tense relationship with law enforcement in the comics and Peter unmasking himself during the Civil War storyline, Tom Holland’s Spidey now has even more in common with his comic book counterpart.

Perhaps Spider-Man’s new status quo can pave the way for Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus to be introduced. While I don’t imagine Norman Osborn becoming Green Goblin immediately in the MCU, even as just the head of OsCorp, he could use his incredible resources to help capture Spidey, though naturally his motivation for targeting the hero would be more malevolent.

The same could go for Doctor Octopus, whether he’s working at OsCorp or an independent scientist. While it would be interesting to see him and Green Goblin working together (though their egos would undoubtedly get in the way of an effective partnership), I imagine only one of them as the main antagonist, with a supporting villain or two serving as muscle.

For right now, a third MCU-set Spider-Man movie isn’t officially on the slate yet, but given how critically well-received Spider-Man: Far From Home is and its box office performance so far, it will get the green light. That said, since the MCU likes to build trilogies for its individual heroes, if we are coming to the end of Spider-Man’s standalone run, then the Marvel folks will need to decide sooner rather than later if they want to feature Green Goblin and/or Doctor Octopus.

If you haven’t already, be sure to read CinemaBlend’s review of Spider-Man: Far From Home. We’ll be sure to update you once a third MCU-set Spider-Man movie is announced, but for now, check out our Marvel movies guide to learn what this franchise has coming up.

Major spoilers for the latest Spidey adventure can be found all through this entire article, including in the comments from director Jon Watts himself. So, if you don’t want to be spoiled, please skedaddle.

The multiverse is something that Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse was able to explore in animated form, but the live action MCU hadn’t jumped into a concept that convoluted ahead of Spider-Man: Far From Home. Although the early trailers for the latest web slinger adventure seemed to indicate the MCU would finally be taking the plunge, that’s not what happens in the movie.

Still, Spider-Man: Far From Home director Jon Watts has a pretty cool theory regarding Nick Fury and what he actually thinks is going on with the multiverse within the MCU. While doing press ahead of the release, he told CinemaBlend’s Sean O’Connell that Talos might actually not find the concept of the multiverse to be too wacky thanks to previous experience. Per Watts:

Prior to the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home, the trailers indicated the multiverse theory was heading to the MCU. Of course, Mysterio is a bit of a trickster in the comics, so many people thought he might have a trick up his sleeve this time around as well.

In fact, in the movie, there’s a lot of tricking going on. Mysterio is actually Quentin Beck, a man who in this big screen universe is not from another Earth and is not, in fact, superpowered at all. Instead, he’s one of Tony Stark’s disgruntled former employees who tricks Spider-man into giving him access to E.D.I.T.H., a Stark-owned artificial intelligence system that can wreak havoc and keep up his superpowered appearance.

He’s not the only trickster, either, as we learn at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home that Nick Fury isn’t even Nick Fury and is instead Talos, whom we met in Captain Marvel earlier this year. Nick Fury’s seemingly in space and Talos has been holding down the fort on Earth in his absence, although it didn’t go particularly well in Far From Home.

Basically, though, what director Jon Watts told us is that while Marvel basically rickrolled fans in regards to the existence of a multiverse at this point in time, it’s not a concept that is totally unbelievable, which is why Peter Parker (with his love for science and tech) totally trusts Quentin Beck in the first place. Talos' past experiences with the concept of the multiverse may also be why he had been fooled at first.

Of course, Jon Watts cannot confirm this is the direction that Marvel is going in Phase Four, so we should still take it as a fan theory, albeit one coming from someone who has spent a lot of time thinking about the MCU and may know more than he lets on.

No matter how it turns out, we can confirm the multiverse is out of the cards for now, but may be in the cards later. Still, multiverse or no, Spider-Man: Far From Home is an intriguing watch, and you can catch it yourself in theaters right now ahead of all the big Phase Four news likely to come down the pipeline soon.

Spoilers ahead for Avengers: Endgame

Over the past decade of filmmaking, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has become a well-oiled machine, introducing serialized storytelling to the masses in the process. This type of interconnected narrative requires quite a bit of planning, with the most guarded secrets shared in order to keep the MCU in motion. And considering how Spider-Man: Far From Home is hitting theaters just a few months after Endgame arrived, production for Peter Parker's second solo flick was made extra complicated.

Jon Watts returned to the director's chair for Spider-Man: Far From Home, after the success of his first Marvel blockbuster, Homecoming. The fans were pleased to see the same filmmaker helming the sequel, although there was one question left: given Endgame's wild events, was Watts privy to the events of the latest Avengers movie? He he recently told the hosts of ReelBlend Podcast the answer to that question, saying:

It looks like Jon Watts was privy to the events of Avengers: Endgame, long before the general public was shown Thanos' second assault on the galaxy. While this information helped the filmmaker craft his upcoming blockbuster, he was also saddled with the responsibility of guarding Marvel Studios' biggest secrets. Not even the cast of Avengers: Endgame was given the film's secret, so Watts was given some special privilege. As such, there was a ton of pressure in making Spider-Man: Far From Home into a reality.

Jon Watts chatted Far From Home and all things Marvel with ReelBlend hosts Sean O'Connell, Jake Hamilton, and Kevin McCarthy ahead of the highly anticipated sequel's release. The spoiler-free discussion (check it!) eventually turned to Avengers: Endgame, and the pressure of following that massive blockbuster, as well as wrapping up Phase Three of the overall MCU.

Logistically, there was no way Jon Watts could possibly direct Spider-Man: Far From Home without being provided with Endgame's biggest plot points. Peter Parker turned to dust during Infinity War, so there wasn't even a protagonist for him to utilize. Endgame provided the reason for Peter's resurrection, and also included world-changing plot devices like a five year time jump and the death of Tony Stark.

From the few brief trailers, it looks like Spider-Man: Far From Home will be largely built on the events of Endgame. Peter is shown mourning Tony Stark, while MJ actress Zendaya has teased that the formerly dusted students will lean on each other as outsiders.

As a result of knowing Avengers: Endgame's contents and crafting the story of Spider-Man: Far From Home, seeing the record-breaking Marvel blockbuster wasn't quite as exciting for Jon Watts as it was for the rest of us. But there was one particular moment that surprised Watts: when Tony picked up a framed photo of he and Peter in the kitchen of his remote cabin. As he told it on ReelBlend,

Marvel fans may lust after information regarding each upcoming blockbuster in the shared universe, but Jon Watts' comments show how much spoilers ruin the moviegoing experience. But even though Watts knew all the biggest revelations that came from Avengers: Endgame, The Russo Brothers and Kevin Feige were still able to surprise him with one emotional gut punch in the blockbuster's second act. In fact, it was the loss of Peter that motivated Tony to develop time travel tech and join the cause for the Time Heist.

Related: 8 Questions We Still Have About Spider-Man: Far From Home

Now the tables have turned, and its Spider-Man: Far From Home's contents that are being guarded by Marvel Studios. The movie will reveal how the MCU has moved on since the events of Avengers: Endgame. The time jump and resurrection of the dusted population is sure to be a seismic event, and it should be fascinating to see how the shared universe is coping.

Additionally, Spider-Man: Far From Home is introducing some high concepts to the MCU. The trailers for Jon Watts' second Marvel blockbuster tease that Thanos' snap actually created a tear in the multiverse, in addition to wiping out half of all life. The multiverse is a complicated idea to bring into the shared universe, especially in the Spider-Man franchise. While Homecoming was focused on Peter's local crimefighting, the sequel will bring him abroad, and put him contact with Marvel staples like Nick Fury and Maria Hill.

Far From Home will also feature the debut of Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio. The marketing has set up the new character to be another mentor and friend to Peter Parker, even working on the side of good. This is a far leap from the character's origin on the page, so it should fascinating to see how it all shakes out. We're post-Endgame now, and Jon Watts will wrap up Phase Three forever.

Luckily, the wait to find out what happens has finally come to an end. Spider-Man: Far From Home is in theaters now, and will likely clean house in the upcoming holiday weekend box office. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Since superhero movies are currently most popular genre in filmmaking, plenty of studios are getting in on the action. As such, Marvel's finest heroes have been spread out across multiple venues, although Disney recently acquired 20th Century Fox and its characters. One notable example of the legality behind superhero properties is Spider-Man, as Disney made a deal with Sony to bring the character into the MCU.

Sony brought its own comic book flick to theaters with Ruben Fleischer's Venom. The movie had a unique tone, and resonated with audiences enough to make a ton of money at the box office. As such, fans are eager to see Tom Hardy's title character interact with Tom Holland's Spider-Man in a future movie-- just like the comics intended. Spider-Man: Far From Home director Jon Watts recently addressed this possibility, saying:

While there are a ton of superhero stars by the name of Chris (Hemsworth, Pratt, Pine), there are also two notable Toms that people want to see work together. That includes Jon Watts himself, who has helmed both Spider-Man movies for Marvel Studios.

Jon Watts' comments to CBM echo what most Marvel fans have said since Venom was first announced by Sony. The symbiote antihero is a fan favorite on the page, typically known for his battles with Spider-Man and other characters like Carnage. But Ruben Fleischer had to craft an origin story void of Venom's typical nemesis. Because despite Sony's original ownership of Spider-Man, they handed him over for his adoption into the MCU.

Related: Why Venom Was Such A Massive Hit, According To Amy Pascal

Not having Peter Parker around for Venom might have ultimately helped the movie, allowing audiences to fully connect with Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock and the dark power that resides in his body. If the movie was also focusing on the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, it could have detracted from the main story. But now that both characters have gotten their proper origin story, it might be a good time to have them collide.

Just how this could happen is currently unclear, although the plans for Venom 2 haven't been made public. A recent rumor indicates that Sony might be trying to bring Tom Holland's Spider-Man into their next movie, in a move that would thrill the fandom. But since Marvel hasn't revealed its plans for Phase Four, the general moviegoing community is totally in the dark regarding the future of both characters.

Spidey fans can check out Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 2nd. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

The evolution of comic book movies over the last 19 years has been astounding. It used to be that superheroes were a questionable big screen entity, and thus characters established in fiction for decades were forced to fit a more traditional cinematic mold. But that is no longer the world that we live in. With stories about the exploits of costumed vigilantes now the most in-demand blockbuster material out there, filmmakers have been given the green light to hone closer to not only the more outrageous aesthetic elements of the source material, but the out-there story ideas as well.

Needless to say, this development has been a remarkable dream come true for lifelong comic book fans. Hollywood studios are now spending millions upon millions of dollars supporting visions that previously only existed in our collective imaginations – inspired by the images and words on the page. What we used to wish for is now not just anticipated, but expected; and what used to be niche is now popular and ubiquitous.

Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: Far From Home is a perfect example of this phenomenon. Twenty-five years ago nobody would have spent $160 million on a movie about Spider-Man seeing his summer vacation interrupted by adventures featuring a mystery man wearing green and purple costume and a crystal ball for a head, but now it’s a relatively standard July blockbuster – and a pretty damn good one at that.

It’s not the zenith of web-slinger movies, as particular story elements and plot developments hold it back from real greatness, but its positive qualities certainly outweigh its faults. Picking up from where Spider-Man: Homecoming left off, once again we are presented with a cast of characters charged with tremendous charm and charisma playing out a narrative that is effortlessly entertaining and filled with wonderful, memorable set pieces.

The first feature to show audiences the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home finds Peter Parker (Tom Holland) very much struggling without his mentor, Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man. As burdened as he is naturally because of his “with great power comes great responsibility” philosophy, societal pressure is also mounting to see him step up and become the world’s new #1 superhero – and even with the love and support, respectively, of Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) and his primary Avengers contact, Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), it’s a bit more than the teenage hero can handle. Add in the craziness of having missed the last five years on Earth because of what’s referred to as The Blip, and what he craves more than anything is a vacation.

Fortunately that’s exactly what he has lined up through his school, which is organizing a summertime trip for his class traveling all around Europe. Peter has every intention to leave his Spider-Man suit behind and just be a normal kid for a few weeks, particularly so that he can woo his new crush, M.J. (Zendaya)… but this is a character that classically never ever gets what he really wants out of life, and that’s a trend that continues here.

In the weeks leading up to Peter’s trip, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) have been facing off against extraterrestrial threats dubbed the Elementals, and while they’ve received assistance from a new hero named Quentin Beck a.k.a. Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), they need Spider-Man’s help in the matter as well. The wall-crawler is initially reticent, particularly because of his desire to keep his classmates in the dark about his secret identity, but eventually convinced by Beck to join the fight.

The film is big, bold, and littered with large-scale, globetrotting action, but its noticeable limitation is in the “Big Idea” arena. The best Marvel movies (like Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: Civil War, and Avengers: Endgame) and even the best Spider-Man movies (like Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse) stand out because they moved chess pieces around in ways that the superhero genre had never seen before, and that’s not precisely one of the things that Spider-Man: Far From Home is able to accomplish.

It is certainly a blockbuster made with ingenuity, and it makes more than a few clever and smart choices, but it also never makes any deep dives into the unexpected with its plot, and it isn’t exactly the game-changer you’d like to see this far into Spider-Man’s big screen legacy (especially for those overly familiar with the hero’s comic book legacy). Ultimately it feels like a lot more energy was put into the characters instead of the story, and while that approach winds up making it a good movie, it also holds it back from being a truly great one.

In the film’s defense, the balance is understandable considering what it’s working with ensemble-wise, and it really does do a wonderful job utilizing it. Tom Holland once again delivers a performance that furthers his claim as the one true cinematic Spider-Man, and his emotional journey over the course of the film is not only real, but perfectly fits the classic tenets of the character. As much as it may pain him, and as much angst as it may cause him, this is a hero who will always carry the weight of the world on his shoulders when he is needed, and that’s entirely reflected in his Spider-Man: Far From Home arc.

While saying too much would be heading into spoiler-territory, Jake Gyllenhaal’s Quentin Beck is also magnificent. Returning to earlier sentiments, just seeing Mysterio in his full fishbowl-headed glory feels like a miracle, as the costume in which he is outfitted couldn’t be a better representation of the design originally imagined by Steve Ditko in 1964. But it’s also a superb adaptation of the character in general, as while there are some important changes made to fit the story being told, the core elements always shine through.

This is one of the few sequels out there that also makes excessively good use of its returning supporting performers, which is very much a positive given the assemblage of such awesome young talent. Continuing to offer up a whole new interpretation of M.J., Zendaya brings a sharp, funny edge to the character, as she challenges Peter in precisely all the right ways. Jacob Batalon’s Ned Leeds remains a delightful source of comedic relief – particularly because of his excellent chemistry with Tom Holland – and Tony Revolori’s Flash Thompson interestingly provides a similar energy, albeit with a polar opposite relationship with the protagonist. It’s also fantastic to see an expanded role for Angourie Rice’s Betty Brant, who is made a part of the core cast, and has a nice collection of memorable moments.

Between its large ensemble and country-hopping script, this is a movie that very clearly required a lot to rein in, and Jon Watts deserves enormous credit for the work. Spider-Man: Homecoming seems tiny in comparison to the scope of this film, and it’s amazing to see how far he has come as a blockbuster filmmaker in such a small window of time. Particularly thanks to both Mysterio and the Elementals, this is an adventure packed with epic action (made with stunning visual effects), and Watts keeps you on the edge of your seat and smiling through each and every one.

The 21st century world has never really been given an opportunity to miss Spider-Man on the big screen, as Far From Home is now the 10th feature in which the character has appeared in the last 17 years – but with films like this audiences aren’t going to grow tired of him any time soon. It does leave much to be desired in the surprise department, but what it lacks in effective twists it mostly makes up for with impressive character drama, and enthralling, exciting, energetic entertainment.

The current model of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the stories of its wildly successful characters, seems to be to have an individual trilogy that’s enhanced by cameos and team-ups in other hub films such as the Avengers movies. And so far, we’ve seen Tom Holland’s Spider-Man do just that, with his debut in Captain America: Civil War leading to the start of his own storyline in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Now, as Spider-Man: Far From Home gets ready to surprise audiences with Peter Parker’s continuing adventures, thoughts are starting to turn to that third film’s possible content. And according to director Jon Watts, it’s way too early to start thinking about how this latest Parker trilogy will end, for the following reasons:

Judging by Jon Watts’ particularly interesting comments above, not only is Spider-Man: Far From Home going to have one hell of an ending, it’s something so unique that it almost begs for time to breathe after it has taken place. Which is definitely familiar territory when it comes to how the recent run of Spider-Man films have developed the Tom Holland variant of the character.

Spider-Man: Homecoming started the ball rolling with Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark playing mentor to young Peter, and eventually ended with Peter stopping short of becoming an Avenger, and his Aunt May figuring out his superpowered identity in a rather hysterical final scene. And with his own disintegration and reintegration, not to mention the death of his mentor, taking place in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, we’ve already seen Peter Parker pushed into some tight emotional corners.

So when Jon Watts tells ScreenRant that he needs a little time to let Spider-Man: Far From Home settle, we believe him. This is especially true considering the early raves for the Spider-Man sequel have spawned some pretty strong reactions, both to the content of the film and the post-credits sequences that are included.

Designed to close out phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Far From Home has a lot riding on its coattails. With the future of the MCU still unknown to the public at large, the first expectations for the future will be set with the events this film uses to close its narrative. So it’s definitely best to look at things the way Jon Watts does, and take the series one moment at a time.

Besides, there is one big plus side to not knowing how the Spider-Man trilogy will end: There’s no possible way for Tom Holland to find out the big finale, only to accidentally livestream his knowledge in a friendly chat with Mark Ruffalo. You can’t spoil a movie, if you don’t know what it’s going to be about!

Spider-Man: Far From Home webs up the competition on July 2nd, which means you only have to wait a couple weeks more to see the excitement for yourself. So why not take a look at the 2019 release schedule, to find something to watch in the interim?

Spider-Man: Far From Home director Jon Watts just posted to Instagram for the first time in nearly two years. He's been kinda busy. His posts prior to June 2019 stop pretty soon after the release of Spider-Man: Homecoming in July 2017. But now it's time to promote the new movie, which Watts revealed is finally "done," as in ready for eyeballs later this month in China and then over here on July 2.

Now that Jon Watts is here, maybe we can expect to see more fun behind-the-scenes cast photos like this one:

What are they looking at? Love the expressions. Zendaya and Tom Holland fans are really reading into the pic, but I'm curious about the scene they're watching play back. Jacob Batalon (Ned) joked of the image, "They’re all looking at my closeups," noting that -- once again -- he was left out of the fun.

Tom Holland replied to Jon Watts' question on what he missed in his Insta absence, writing "So much boss" with a laughing emoji.

In addition to Tom Holland (Peter Parker/Spider-Man) and Zendaya (MJ), Jon Watts tagged Tony Revolori, who is back as Eugene "Flash" Thompson, plus Angourie Rice as Betty Brant, and Tom's brother Harry Holland.

Apparently they all vanished in The Decimation of Avengers: Infinity War and returned five years later at the same age in Avengers: Endgame? That's the running theory, anyway, although the Spider-Man: Far From Home cast didn't seem to understand the time jump elements.

Spider-Man: Far From Home's big promotional push has been going on for about a month now. Tom Holland and Jake Gyllenhaal got the party off to a ridiculous start last month. Gyllenhaal is new to the team as Mysterio, who is as mysterious as his name. Holland also recently tag-teamed with MCU co-star Chris Hemsworth for a brilliant video where they interviewed each other about their respective new movies -- Spider-Man and MIB: International.

Jon Watts directed Spider-Man: Homecoming to a $117 million opening weekend in 2017, with the summer movie ultimately making $880,166,924 worldwide from the combined domestic and foreign markets. Early box office tracking for Spider-Man: Far From Home suggests it could open between $90 million and $120 million over 3 days. That's a pretty wide margin, but Marvel and Sony would surely hope it leans more toward the higher end. Plus, with an unusual Tuesday, July 2 opening to get ahead of the July 4 holiday, it may be judged over six days.

Spider-Man: Far From Home will be released here in the United States on July 2. Keep up with everything headed to the big screen this year with our handy 2019 movie schedule.

One of the things revealed in the first trailer for this summer’s Spider-Man: Far From Home is that everybody’s favorite Web-Slinger will be getting some new duds for his European vacation. But instead of getting the hottest and flashiest fashions from Parisian runways, Spidey will be getting a practical and understated black stealth suit. The film’s director Jon Watts, has a hilarious explanation for the stealth suit, saying:

Man, from a custom Stark suit with built-in A.I. and the Iron Spider suit, both of which likely cost millions, to one of Black Widow’s hand-me-downs; the youngest Avenger needs to file a complaint with Avengers HR or something because his contributions warrant him at least getting his own custom suit. Maybe they’re trying to come in under budget on the fiscal year and Black Widow had a spare suit just lying around they could repurpose cheaply.

Not that there is anything wrong with Black Widow’s suits; she is a literal spy and the stealthiest of the Avengers, so if it’s good enough for her, it's certainly good enough for him. And sorry, but Pete my guy, you’re a lot closer to Black Widow’s size than you are to most of the other team members.

In reality, Peter Parker would probably be honored and fanboy out over getting to use something Black Widow once had. After all, before Tony Stark upgraded him, his own suit manufacturing efforts were, let’s say, less than stellar. While we don’t know if Jon Watt’s hilarious conjecture about the stealth suit’s origin to Entertainment Weekly is strictly true, we do know a little bit about why Peter Parker is given the suit.

Following his exhausting adventures being a Friendly Universe Spider-Man in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is in need of a well-deserved vacation. He tries to take one in Spider-Man: Far From Home, but it wouldn’t be a movie if things didn’t go awry.

Nick Fury shows up (never a good sign) and recruits Spidey to take on the Elementals. It might seem odd for New York’s Spider-Man to suddenly show up in Europe at the same time Peter Parker is there, so in order to preserve his secret identity, Fury lends him the stealth suit. That said, if he’s still swinging around like Spider-Man, isn’t a black suit like putting glasses on Clark Kent? Maybe Peter’s efforts in Far From Home will be more ground-based.

Spider-Man: Far From Home, which is now the concluding film of Phase 3, has moved up a few days and swings in to theaters on July 2. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see all the big movies headed your way in the packed summer season, and for all the latest in superhero fashions, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.

To state the obvious, when making movies it definitely helps if everybody on set gets along. Acrimony can cause tension and uncomfortability during a production, which can impact the atmosphere and ultimately cause creative problems. It's much better if people are happy and congenial... but as the folks on the set of Spider-Man: Far From Home learned during filming, friendship can have its negatives too.

Sometimes having too much fun can cause its own kind of issues, and this was apparently something that director Jon Watts had to deal with while working with Tom Holland and Jake Gyllenhaal on the set of the 23rd Marvel Studios blockbuster. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, the filmmaker explained that the two got along so well while making the new Spider-Man movie that they became a bit of a disruption at time. He told the magazine,

In Spider-Man: Far From Home, Tom Holland returns as Peter Parker, and Jake Gyllenhaal plays Quentin Beck a.k.a Mysterio - but the two actors apparently didn't have the same kind of contentious relationship making the movie that the two characters have on the pages of Marvel Comics. Rather than fighting and arguing, the two got along so well that they would constantly make each other laugh, and that became a bit of an issue when they were trying to shoot scenes that didn't involve them both busting a gut.

It's entirely possible that part of the reason they got along so well is because Tom Holland was so incredibly excited to work with his co-star. Also speaking with EW, Holland noted that he's been wanting to work with Jake Gyllenhaal for a while now, and he was beyond thrilled to get the opportunity to do so in the making of Spider-Man: Far From Home. Per the actor, there were some initial nerves involved, but they eventually got along swimmingly:

So if you're watching Spider-Man: Far From Home later this year and see a smile start to crack on the faces of either Tom Holland or Jake Gyllenhaal, you can feel free to wonder if the grin may have eventually turned into a full-on fit of laughter that ruined a take.

With Avengers: Endgame landing in theaters this weekend, Spider-Man: Far From Home is the next big Marvel Studios release, and fans will be able to see it at their local cinema starting on July 2nd. Also starring Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Jon Favreau, J. B. Smoove, Martin Starr, and Marisa Tomei, the movie is one of our most anticipated releases of the summer, and we'll have plenty more updates coming your way here on CinemaBlend.

After years of waiting, Spider-Man is now firmly a key figure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe -- and it looks like things are going to stay that way for at least the next few years. Not only did the character have a very significant part in Avengers: Infinity War, but we also know that he'll have a role to play in Avengers: Endgame. And, the character's part of the action in that superhero team up sequel will lead right into the Web-Slinger's solo sequel for Marvel and Sony -- a project that's been officially titled Spider-Man: Far From Home.

So, what can we expect from this sequel? When will it be released? Which characters will return? What will it be about? We've built this feature with the exact purpose of answering those questions, so read on to learn what we know so far about the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming!

SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Spider-Man: Homecoming and Avengers: Infinity War. If you have not yet seen the films, and don't wish to have any specific details ruined, please bookmark this page and come back after your screening!

What Have We Seen From Spider-Man: Far From Home?

For a while, our only looks at Spider-Man: Far From Home came from leaked set photos and videos, but, at the beginning of January, the first trailer finally dropped. As you can see from the video above, there have been a few reveals that let us in on the storyline. An international Far From Home trailer was also released that has a different opening sequence of events. So, at least now we have two different videos providing footage for the Wall-Crawler’s next adventure, but you can be sure more previews are on the way in the coming months.

Spider-Man: Far From Home's Release Date

While Marvel Studios has always been a house of secrets, what they have planned beyond Avengers: Endgame was kept mostly under lock and key for a while. This is primarily so that fans have no idea what to expect in the outcome of Avengers: Infinity War and its sequel. However, that's finally started to change, as a number of post-Phase 3 projects have slowly been announced or reported. Nevertheless, Spider-Man: Far From Home was announced long before those others, so, naturally, it will be the first of this bunch to come out.

To be specific, Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures have jointly announced that Peter Parker's next solo adventure will be hitting the big screen on July 5, 2019. As such, it will be the first title to kick off Phase 4 -- if that's even still a thing after the fourth Avengers movie. It's noteworthy how close the release dates are for Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home, but there's a good reason for that, and we'll get into it in a bit.

Spider-Man: Far From Home's Rating

Between 2004 and 2007, Marvel Comics did published Spider-Man issues that had a more mature edge to them (specifically under their 'Marvel Knights' banner), but that's hardly the Spidey that audiences recognize. The Web-Head is famously kid-friendly and fun, and there are no future plans to release an R-rated title featuring the character.

While it was fine to consider that Sony's Venom spin-off could be restricted to those aged 18 years or older (that ended up not being the case), having an R-rated Marvel Cinematic Universe Spider-Man film really just wouldn't make any sense. There are a whole lotta kids out there who just flipped their collective lids for Tom Holland's new big screen version of the Wall-Crawler, and it would be insane to bar them from getting to see his second solo adventure in the franchise. Obviously, official decisions regarding the rating are only decided when a final cut is assembled and screened for the MPAA, but you can be sure that Spider-Man: Far From Home will be made with a PG-13 rating in mind.

Spider-Man: Far From Home's Director

Following the Sundance premiere of his critically-acclaimed sophomore feature, Cop Car, director Jon Watts was brought on board to take the helm of Spider-Man: Homecoming. It was a decision that met with a good deal of head-scratching, given Watts' lack of experience with big projects -- but he wound up proving all doubters wrong. He provided fans with a great Spidey full of energy and spirit... but for a long time we weren't quite sure if he would get the chance to do it again. But, at the beginning of 2018, during Brazil's Comic-Con, reports came out that Kevin Feige announced Watts' return as director during the Marvel panel, and it was later confirmed that Watts would reprise his helming duties on Spider-Man: Far From Home.

This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise for fans. His first superhero movie was not only monstrously successful at the box office, but also stands as one of the best-reviewed installments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Watts oversaw Spider-Man: Far From Home's principal photography from July to October of 2018, but there's likely still some post-production work to be done for Watts to supervise.

The Story

The events that go down in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame will have a serious impact on Spider-Man: Far From Home -- and we're not only saying that because the Wall-Crawler has a part in both movies. As alluded to earlier, it has been confirmed that the events that play out in the sequel will begin literally minutes after the end of Endgame. Obviously, Infinity War saw young Peter Parker slowly turn to dust after Thanos gained full control of the Infinity Gauntlet, in one of the most heart-breaking scenes the MCU has ever brought us. Avengers 4, then, will need to restore the hero in some way, though we have no clue how that could work right now. However this is accomplished, it's entirely possible that the events of Infinity War and Peter's resurrection could be addressed in Spider-Man: Far From Home, unless, of course, that some timey-wimey goings on in Avengers: Endgame mean that said events never occurred in the new timeline, in which case from Peter Parker's perspective, there's nothing to address.

As for where we'll find Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Far From Home, it was previously hinted that the sequel, which was written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers (who also worked on the original), will move the hero up a grade -- from sophomore to junior. But, more importantly, it was revealed that Far From Home will see Peter traveling to Europe with his classmates during summer vacation. We will see a little bit of Spidey in his native New York, but otherwise he won't technically be a Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man in Far From Home since he'll be swinging around London, Venice and other European locales. And, needless to say, this trip won't be as relaxing for Peter as he hoped, because (as is the life of a superhero) eventually he'll have to clash with supervillains.

As for who the primary villain is, there was certainly no shortage of individuals to choose from since Spider-Man has one of the biggest rogues gallery in all of superhero comics history. And as most of you reading this already know, many of Spider-Man's greatest foes have already been on the big screen -- including Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Venom, Lizard, Rhino, and Electro -- but the good news is that the Web-Slinger has one of the deepest villain benches around, and we still haven't seen notable baddies like Kraven The Hunter, Mysterio, Morbius The Living Vampire, Chameleon and Hobgoblin. One of these villains has now been confirmed to appear and is possibly being the Big Bad of Spider-Man: Far From Home, and we'll get into that a bit later.

Peter Parker/Spider-Man

While Spider-Man: Homecoming wasn't a traditional origin story for the hero -- not featuring Uncle Ben or radioactive spider bites -- it is still very much an introduction to him and his world. The movie lets us get to know the kid superhero, reveals the people in his life who are closest to him, and even still manages to give us a proper training montage as he learns to use all the aspects of his new suit. Now that that's all out of the way, however, there are no limits to what the next story can do, and what growth we may see from both Peter Parker and Spider-Man.

Thus far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man has faced off against both rogue superheroes and alien tech-wearing villains, but in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, we expect that the teenager is going to see things far, far more intense. As such, Peter Parker may be a totally different person by the time we meet him again in Spider-Man: Far From Home... but he still has to be a high school student working towards building a future for himself. There should be plenty of drama and conflict as a result, but that all just makes for good storytelling.

One of the cool things about the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel is we will definitely see a version of the titular hero who is much more adept with both his own abilities and technology. Not only is it possible that we will see a stronger manifestation of the character's famed spider-sense (which made a brief appearance in Infinity War), but also much greater creativity when it comes to utilizing 'Karen' and the various capacities of his Stark Industries-designed suit. Plus, Peter will also be donning a new stealth suit during Far From Home, indicating that he'll be on a mission requiring him to maintain a lower profile.

Michelle/Mary Jane

In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter Parker spends most of the movie pining for the girl who is his true first crush in the comics: Liz Allen (Laura Harrier). That being said, the fact that Liz is moving across the country following her father's incarceration means that romance is probably dead. The good news is that real love has been under Peter's nose all along.

The final high school scene of the latest Spider-Man movie ends with Michelle (Zendaya) exposing that she's not just some ordinary original character made up for the reboot. Instead, by noting that her friends call her M.J., she is revealed as the woman who Peter Parker will ultimately be with forever. Her name clearly isn't Mary Jane Watson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but she is Michelle J.-Something.

Truth be told, we don't really learn much about Michelle in the first movie -- though the fact that she keeps following Peter around and keeping tabs on him clearly demonstrates a crush. Hopefully she will wind up getting much more to do in Spider-Man: Far From Home, now that she doesn't have to lurk in the shadows in order to conserve a twist. Peter is definitely interested in exploring a romantic relationship with her, and she might feel the same way with him.

Ned Leeds

In the modern age, no hero is truly complete without their "Man In The Chair," and for Peter Parker that man is Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon). Ned is one of the few people in the world that know that Peter is actually Spider-Man, and while that information caused him to freak out a bit at first, he eventually settled down enough to be a real asset to Peter when things go seriously wrong in the third act of Spider-Man: Homecoming.

So, what does the future hold for Ned Leeds? It's really impossible to say at this point. On the optimistic side of things, we can probably expect him to continue helping Peter Parker in the sequel, and perhaps pester him for endless details about fighting with The Avengers. There is a serious downside to knowing Spider-Man's real identity, however, in that it basically puts a target on his back. It's cool that Peter has a friend his own age with whom he can talk about Spidey activities, but it also means that he's constantly in very real danger. Of course, he's not the only person who knows...

Aunt May

In the comics, Peter Parker has typically been very successful when it comes to hiding his Spider-Man activities from Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), but apparently that's not the case in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. At the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter successfully dodges the Civil War-esque press conference that would reveal his identity to the world, but one person he's unable to hide this secret from is May, who accidentally walks in on him while he's putting on his costume in his room.

If this Aunt May knows that Peter is Spider-Man, she's not going to have to wonder what it is that he gets up to at night when he's fighting crime -- though surely she will still be very concerned about her young nephew's safety. We probably won't really get to see her fully come to terms with it all because her discovery is literally the last thing that happens in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame happen between now and Far From Home, but it will be great to see May and Peter have a dynamic that is completely different than anything we've seen before. Judging from the trailer, she seems to be very supportive of Peter playing superhero. Plus, it looks like romance might be in store for May in this movie as well, as she appears to have sparks with Jon Favreau's Happy Hogan.

Mac Gargan/Scorpion

The folks at Marvel Studios have found many different ways to utilize their trademark post-credit scenes, and part of that tradition is teasing villains for the follow-up film (recently seen in both Doctor Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2). It certainly looks like the Spider-Man movies are going to follow in that tradition as well, as Spider-Man: Homecoming definitely sets up the possibility of seeing Mac Gargan a.k.a. Scorpion as an antagonist in the sequel.

Played by Michael Mando, Mac Gargan first shows up in the Staten Island Ferry sequence in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and winds up getting seriously injured during his battle with the web-slinger. It's an event that puts a rather sizable chip on his shoulder, and leads him to confront Adrian Toomes in prison about attacking Spider-Man. Toomes rejects Gargan's offer, but it's easy to imagine that not stopping Gargan from trying to get some revenge.

The fact that Mac Gargan was dealing with Adrian Toomes means that he is interested in utilizing alien tech for crime purposes, so is it possible that he could track down The Tinkerer and get him to build a Scorpion suit -- complete with barbed tail? Homecoming co-producer Eric Hauserman Carroll has already intimated that we could see The Tinkerer again, since he was never apprehended at the end of the movie, so it's an absolute possibility. This could certainly be a B-plot in Spider-Man: Far From Home, but we don't expect that Scorpion will wind up being the sequel's central villain. Not to mention that so far, Michael Mando hasn't been announced to appear in Far From Home.

Adrian Toomes/Vulture

While Marvel Cinematic Universe movies have a history of less-than-fantastic villains, Michael Keaton's Adrian Toomes does not belong on that list. In fact, with the exception of Loki, he may be the best we've seen from the franchise. The guy is not only excessively menacing and dangerous, but he also has understandable motivations and a plan that actually makes sense. Add in the fact that he survived Spider-Man: Homecoming and knows Peter Parker's biggest secret, and it wasn't hard to imagine him finding some way to be included in the 2019 sequel.

Barring a jail break, Adrian Toomes will still be in prison when the story of Spider-Man: Far From Home begins, but that doesn't mean that he'll just be sitting on his hands. The guy is clearly very smart and very passionate, and those two elements can be very dangerous when combined with the wrong personality. Sure, he turns down Mac Gargan's offer to form some kind of anti-Spider-Man team, but that hardly means his days of villainy are totally behind him. It should be noted that May 2018 brought us the news that Michael Keaton will be back as Toomes in the sequel, so we can likely count on him causing trouble for Peter in the next film.

Herman Schultz/Shocker

Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies weren't really made with a massive franchise in mind, and yet it's still disappointing that all three titles wind up killing one of the primary antagonists. Fortunately, this wasn't a mistake made by Spider-Man: Homecoming, and as a result we not only have Adrian Toomes being incarcerated, but also Bokeem Woodbine's Herman Schultz, a.k.a. Shocker, still walking around.

Shocker is able to deliver Spider-Man a rather excessive beating in his final scene of Spider-Man: Homecoming, meeting the hero outside of the Midtown School Homecoming Dance, but it's thanks to the bravery and good timing of Ned Leeds that he is stopped and webbed up against a school bus. We don't know if he was ultimately arrested, or managed to escape the sticky net, but one thing is for certain: he's going to want to get some payback. Hopefully the next time we see him he'll be wearing an entire costume made of the yellow, quilted material that insulates him from the energy of his own gauntlet, which is to say, as he appears in the comics.

Quentin Beck/Mysterio

Now, here's where we get to the part where we need to talk about the possible Big Bad that's being looked at for Spider-Man: Far From Home. In mid-May 2018, THR reported that the film was looking to cast Jake Gyllenhaal as classic Spidey villain Mysterio for the sequel. The stuntman/failed illusionist was known to use his own brand of movie magic to help hide his criminal activities. He's also, of course, known for his crazy costume, which features a fishbowl-style helmet, green and purple suit and massive cape. It's since been confirmed that Gyllenhaal is indeed playing Mysterio, but rather than being the main antagonist, he's been tasked by someone (we'll tell you who in a bit) to help Peter Parker battle strange creatures called Elementals in Europe.

The Far From Home trailer showed a little bit of Quentin Beck in action, and on the surface, he appears to wield tremendous power. However, misdirection and illusions are Mysterio's bread and butter. Not only could these abilities be the product of advanced technology, it's also possible that, like his comic book counterpart, Gyllenhaal's Mysterio is a tried-and-true villain. Maybe he's behind the rise of the Elementals, using them as a way for him to "save the day" and look like a hero to the public.

The "Femme Fatale"

Here's where we get into some major speculation. It was revealed in early 2018 that the production was looking for a European actress in her twenties to play the role of a "femme fatale" in Spider-Man: Far From Home, the problem, of course, is that we have no solid idea right now as to who this character will actually be. Since the film is going to shoot in Europe for at least part of production, and they're looking to cast a European actress, one of the possibilities for this unnamed character is Jessica Drew, a.k.a. Spider-Woman. In the comics, the character is British, so this would make her a natural fit for this addition to the cast.

Of course, the other major possibilities are Black Cat and Silver Sable. The master thief and mercenary (respectively) have storied histories with Spidey in the comics, and with the plans to develop a movie around those two currently pushed back, it's not completely unlikely that a new plan is in place to introduce one or both of the characters in Homecoming 2, provided that there's another agreement between Sony and Marvel over how they could be used. Yet another option for this casting would be Gwen Stacy, seeing as how an audition video surfaced a while ago showing an actress trying out for the role.

Nick Fury

Just like Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home will have a certain team-up element. In Tom Holland's first solo Spider-Man adventure, the young Peter Parker found himself interacting quite a bit with Tony Stark/Iron Man, and for Far From Home, Peter will finally come face-to-face with spy extraordinaire/ex-director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury.

While Captain Marvel brought Samuel L. Jackson in to play a two-eyed Nick Fury in 1995, Spider-Man: Far From Home is reuniting us with the present day Fury, who was last seen turning to dust in the Avengers: Infinity War post-credits scene. We don't know for sure if Fury is in Avengers: Endgame yet, but the fact that he's appearing in Far From Home means he will be restored to life, just like Spider-Man. As for why he's finally crossing paths with Peter Parker, Fury is the one who's tasked Quentin Beck with helping the Web-Slinger fight the Elementals. Beyond that, we have no idea about what to expect from Fury, although given that he and Peter form a mentor/mentee relationship in the Ultimate universe, perhaps this means Jackson's iteration of the character will form a soft spot for the teen hero as well. Fury will also be accompanied by his second-in-command, Cobie Smulders' Maria Hill.

We only have a few months now until Spider-Man: Far From Home arrives in theaters, so be sure to bookmark this guide to stay up to date on all the latest news about the film as it becomes available!

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is on a bit of a precipice at the moment. With only a few films left in Phase 3, the future of the MCU is largely a mystery, as it will depend on the events of Infinity War and Avengers 4. Just about the only movie we know is definitely coming in the next phase of films is the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming, featuring Tom Holland in his second go as a leading man. Given the wild success of the first film, many fans have been hoping that director Jon Watts would return for a sequel, and now it appears he just might.

The news broke on Twitter this afternoon, and has yet to receive an actual confirmation from the studio. Brazil's Comic-Con is today, and Marvel reportedly announced Jon Watt's return as the director of Homecoming's sequel. The news was reportedly broken by Kevin Feige himself, during the very popular Marvel panel. But considering how successful the first film was, this should come as no surprise.

If legitimate, Jon Watts would be the latest in a line of Marvel directors who have returned for sequels after knocking it out of the park during their first go. James Gunn has complete control over the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, and the Russo Brothers have directed the last two Captain America movies, in addition to their work on the upcoming Avengers films. Marvel likes to keep things in house, and Watts has already proven his worth through Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Because Homecoming is currently 2017's highest grossing superhero movie, of which there were many. The web slinger's third franchise had to edge out competition in the form of Justice League and Thor: Ragnarok, both of which were highly anticipated before their respective releases. But Tom Holland's introduction from Captain America: Civil War was one of the highlights of the threequel, and Spider-Man has always been one of Marvel's most popular characters. Now that he's officially in the MCU and finally age appropriate, there are plenty of moviegoers who are eager to shell out the cash to see him do battle in New York.

Of course, we'll have to wait for a more concrete confirmation from Marvel Studios to be sure if Jon Watts will return. Watts has been in talks to direct the highly anticipated sequel seemingly since Homecoming arrived in theaters. Watts was able to truly capture the naivety and youth of Peter Parker, in a way that the previous two franchises never really could. And Holland's fantastic performance and gymnastic abilities only helped this, and brought a fresh and new take on Spidey that comic book fans have been hoping for.

Tom Holland's Spider-Man will next swing into action in Avengers: Infinity War, which arrives in theaters May 4, 2018. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your trips to the movies in the New Year.