Ever since we learned that Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts would not return to helm the next film in the franchise, reports have been swirling online about who might be in line to take over, with the likes of Justin Lin (Fast & Furious), Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods) and Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Ms. Marvel, Batgirl) emerging as (rumored) contenders.
Now, we have confirmation that Spider-Man 4 (not its official title) has found its director in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings helmer Destin Daniel Cretton!
While Cretton's name had also popped up, he was thought to be the least likely to take the job considering prior commitments to several other projects, including a Shang-Chi sequel (which he is still attached to). According to THR, when Cretton exited Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (now titled Avengers: Doomsday), Marvel was determined to "find another feature for him," and him nabbing the Spider-Man gig is seen as a "vote of confidence on his work on Wonder Man."
The trade also confirms that "Spider-Man 4 is running, not crawling, full steam ahead and will shoot early next year."
Plot details are still under wraps, but previous rumors have claimed that Sony's Tom Rothman and Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige have had some disagreements when it comes to the story of Spider-Man 4, with the latter hoping to scale the Multiverse elements back for a smaller adventure. Rothman, meanwhile, is said to want to capitalize on No Way Home's success by bringing Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield back as their respective takes on Peter Parker.
If we're speculating, we'd say Garfield and Maguire would be more likely to return for Avengers: Secret Wars, but that doesn't mean this next solo Spidey movie won't lay the groundwork.
Tom Holland will, of course, be back as the MCU's Spidey alongside Zendaya as MJ - though Deadline's report notes that their deals have yet to officially close.
Holland is believed to be "growing wary" of playing the iconic hero, so this could be his final solo outing as the wall-crawler - though he will almost certainly play a part in one of both of the upcoming Avengers films.
"We have the best in the business working toward whatever the story might be," Holland said in a recent interview. "But until we’ve cracked it, we have a legacy to protect," Holland explained. "The third movie was so special in so many ways that we need to make sure we do the right thing."
No Way Home scribes Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers are writing the script.
What do you make of this choice of director? Let us know in the comment section.