10 Things You Need To Know About Marvel's New Spider-Man

9. Why Jon Watts Was Chosen As Director

When Marvel and Sony's shortlist of directors surfaced for their Spider-Man reboot, the only name most people got excited over was 50/50 and Warm Bodies helmer Jon Levine. While he made it to the top three, it was relative unknown Jon Watts who landed the gig, and Variety reported that a big part of that may have come down to Levine and Ted Melfi becoming frustrated with Marvel over the length of time they were taking to decide. However, a more in-depth analysis from The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Watts was always Kevin Feige's top choice. Both he and Sony's Amy Pascal were apparently keen on finding someone with comedy experience, but also with a perspective that would help to distinguish these new Spider-Man movies from the five which have preceded it. Feige fell for Watts' take (his only major feature to date is Sundance hit Cop Car starring Kevin Bacon), and after getting Sony boss Tom Rothman's blessing, he was chosen.