‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Director in Talks to Return for Sequel (Exclusive)

After successfully relaunching the Spider-Man franchise with Spider-Man: Homecoming, Sony and Marvel are staying in business with director Jon Watts.

Watts is in talks to return for the sequel to the hit Spidey film, starring Tom Holland. The follow-up, currently untitled, is already slated for release on July 5, 2019. 

Watts was best known for directing the 2015 indie Cop Car (with a budget of $800K), starring Kevin Bacon, but he successfully made the leap to big-budget tentpoles with Homecoming, getting the gig to co-write and direct the project after pitching a coming-of-age teen story focused on the high-school life of Peter Parker. The film, which also stars Michael Keaton, Zendaya, Robert Downey Jr. and Marisa Tomei, was deemed a box-office hit after it opened to $117 million domestically on July 7. It has earned $468.3 million worldwide in two weeks.

Holland will reprise his role as Peter Parker in the sequel. In Homecoming, Parker is a sophomore in high school trying to adjust to regular Brooklyn life after his adventures with the Avengers. The next film’s story will pick up after the events of Avengers: Infinity War, which is set to hit theaters May 4, 2018, and will also feature Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man.

Along with Cop Car, Watts’ helming credits include 2014 horror movie Clown and episodes of The Onion News Network. He is repped by CAA and Bloom Hergott.

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