When the Marvel Cinematic Universe began, there were certain properties that it simply could not touch due to rights reasons. As in the movie rights to the franchises themselves. That’s because in the late 1990s, Marvel Comics went through a massive crash, and to get back to stable ground, they sold the rights of many properties to Fox and Sony. This included Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four. Over time, they worked to get those rights back, and now, they’ve mostly done that.
As a result of buying 21st Century Fox, they announced that Jon Watts would be directing the Fantastic Four movie, and everyone was excited. However, a new confirmed report has stated that this is no longer the case. As Watts is stepping away from the project in order to cool off after making so many movies for Marvel and beyond:
“Collaborating with Jon on the Spider-Man films has been a true pleasure,” Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and co-president Louis D’Esposito noted. “We were looking forward to continuing our work with him to bring the Fantastic Four into the MCU but understand and are supportive of his reasons for stepping away. We are optimistic that we will have the opportunity to work together again at some point down the road.”
“Making three Spider-Man films was an incredible and life-changing experience for me,” added Watts. “I’m eternally grateful to have been a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for seven years. I’m hopeful we’ll work together again and I can’t wait to see the amazing vision for Fantastic Four brought to life.”
While they are cheerful about this, there is no doubt that this is a huge blow, not the least of which is because of how fans really wanted to see the FF in the MCU. It’s still going to happen no doubt, it just might be a little while until a new director is found.
Source: Deadline
