Director Jon Watts stepped up to direct the three solo Tom Holland Spider-Man films that were wildly successful at the box office. The Home-trilogy was a perfect three-part story for Holland’s Spider-Man as he evolved from a young bubbly teenager to learning his responsibilities and dealing with a profound loss.
Watts delivered a much bigger and character-driven film with the trilogy than previous Spider-Man films. However, most fans did not find a distinctive visual style and flair that the Sam Raimi and Marc Webb’s films had. While many agree that Watts did a great job with his trilogy, the change of director for the 4th installment is a welcome change for some.
Spider-Man 4 May Rectify One Criticism That Fans Have About Jon Watts’ Trilogy
The Jon Watts Spider-Man films starring Tom Holland were big hits for Sony and Marvel with Spider-Man: No Way Home becoming one of the highest-grossing superhero films of all time. The trilogy successfully showed the evolution of Peter Parker and Watts’s direction brought a lot of great character moments throughout the film series.
While Watts delivered on the storytelling front, fans rarely talk about the visuals in his films. Sam Raimi’s trilogy included his trademark swinging scenes and creative camera work while Marc Webb’s Amazing Spider-Man films had visually stunning action sequences almost like a comic book. The lack of a distinct visual style or stamp in Watts’ films frustrated some fans.
Now, with a new director coming in for Spider-Man 4, fans including scooper MyTimeToShineHello (on X) are thrilled that this new director might rectify this and bring back the amazing distinctive visuals in the fourth film. While general audiences were not bothered by this pet peeve that some fans have, bringing back the creative cinematography for the next film will surely make them happy. The popular scooper wrote,
“This is why I’m glad Jon Watts isn’t coming back. We need a director who knows how to create amazing visuals”
This is why I'm glad Jon Watts isn't coming back. We need a director who knows how to create amazing visuals https://t.co/WTR64y7R06
— MyTimeToShineHello (@MyTimeToShineH) May 7, 2024
The swinging between skyscrapers scenes gotta epic like in the Raimi films or in the insomniac games!
— Batnarc (@batnarc573511) May 7, 2024
Jon watts is an amazing director, but I felt when the scope of the homecoming trilogy got bigger his work felt flatter. Hopefully with someone else in the helm we can get those true “Spider-man Shots”. Love the raimi swinging and the Marc Webb action sets.
— Miggy (@itzMiwatt) May 8, 2024
I liked the movies Watts made but the visuals were definitely not his strong suit.
— Connor Anderson (@Mgkman13) May 8, 2024
Right! We need some new visuals, a director with talents to show the audience, greater experiences other than Jon Watts. I hope Marvel and Sony announces Spider-Man 4 director soon
— Avengers Assemble (@assemble_heroes) May 8, 2024
Couldn’t agree more
— PJA (@spookyquixote) May 8, 2024
A director has not been selected and the film is still in its pre-production stage. With Watts out of the picture, the next director has a lot to live up to after the glorious and bittersweet Spider-Man: No Way Home. It remains to be seen who they choose and whether he/she brings a new style to the Spider-Man lore that fans will be happy with.
Jon Watts Has a Great Advice for the Future Spider-Man Director
Jon Watts has tasted massive success with the Tom Holland Spider-Man trilogy in the MCU. He is now pursuing other things and will not return to helm the fourth installment. However, he has very straightforward and practical advice that the future director tackling Spider-Man should know.
In an interview with Collider at CCXP, Watts stated that making a great Spider-Man film requires a great deal of artistry and balancing the use of CGI and practical effects. A director wishing to do a Spider-Man film purely on a practical basis would fall flat on its face and Watts claimed that it would look dumb and boring on-screen. The director said,
“I have a very practical bit of Spider-Man advice, and I think every Spider-Man director goes through it. It doesn’t look good when someone is just swinging on a rope. You think you’re gonna go in there, you’re like, ‘we’re gonna do it all practical. We’re gonna get a stuntman. We’re gonna be swinging around.’ It’s boring. It looks dumb. It looks like a monkey swinging on a vine when you put someone on just a rope. Don’t waste your time. That’s my advice to the next Spider-Man director”
Watts is a co-creator of the upcoming show Star Wars: Skeleton Crew and will also direct one/two episodes. The series will premiere on Disney+ in late 2024. He is also the writer/director of the upcoming thriller film Wolfs starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney, which will be released in theatres on September 20, 2024.
Fans can watch/rent Watts’ Spider-Man trilogy on Prime Video.
