Ex: Jon Watts talks Spider-Man: Far From Home ending spoilers, future in MCU

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Jon Watts has come a long way since turning his short film CLOWN into a feature film. As you probably know, CLOWN led to COP CAR, which starred Kevin Bacon, so that right there is a pretty nice step up. But then COP CAR led to SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING, which is a fairly significant leap into the Hollywood machine. Thankfully for fans of the friendly neighborhood web slinger, Watts turned out to be just the right man for the job, establishing HOMECOMING as one of the most enjoyable films in the MCU's considerable catalog. With his first multimillion dollar success out of the way, Watts was ready to jump right into the sequel, FAR FROM HOME, which had the imposing job of being the first Marvel film to follow the events of AVENGERS: ENDGAME. It would appear Watts doesn't scare easily,

By now you've all probably seen FAR FROM HOME, which is why we held onto this interview for a little while (it was conducted about three weeks ago). Watts and I talked about his transition from low-budget to mega-budget filmmaking, Peter Parker's latest challenges, the development of Mysterio, that post-credit cameo, and much more! Some <b>SPOILERS</b> follow.

When you directed HOMECOMING, you had only directed a couple of low-budget films and some shorts, so I'm sure there was a learning curve jumping into such a big film. Was it a little easier this time around having the first one under your belt?

You know what's funny is, you definitely know a little bit more what to expect, but as a result it's harder. [Laughs] Because you have the gift of ignorance the first time you do it, you don't really know what's going to happen next. So even though there is a learning curve, it's all new to you, so you don't know what to worry about. The second time around you do know what to worry about, so you worry about it a lot more. So it's easier and harder in a way.

How far in advance did you know about the INFINITY WAR/ENDGAME events in order to prepare for FAR FROM HOME?

I knew all of it! I was one of the lucky few who knew the secrets early on, because we wouldn't have been able to develop and write this movie without knowing what happened in those films.

How would you say Peter Parker has changed since the events of Homecoming and The Avengers films, leading up to Far From Home?

Obviously, so much has happened to him in between Homecoming and Far from Home. I mean, he's been to space, he has potentially died and come back to life, and he's lost his mentor, the person who plucked him from obscurity. There's so much Peter is dealing with when we start Far from Home, he's a very different kid.

He is, he's a little older and wiser, and yet what's great is that he still has all those issues, like being nervous around girls and that kind of stuff.

Yeah, some of those things that never change.

I love the relationship between Peter and MJ, it's so genuinely sweet. Can you talk about developing their dynamic?

For me, I always found it to be a very interesting thing to explore. Peter has been through so much, and there are so many unanswered questions in his life and in the world after Endgame, but the way he's dealing with it is by being so focused on MJ. Like, despite all of that, the most important thing to him in the world right now is going on this trip and telling the girl he likes how he feels. And there's something about that that feels so true to life, about how when you're 16 everything is kind of at an 11. Taking down a supervillain is just as intimidating as telling MJ how he feels.

I'm curious about the development of the Mysterio character and his arc over the course of the film. Was that always in place, or did it change over time?

There were things that changed a little bit over time. We always knew that was the structure we wanted for him, and a lot of that was inspired by the comics, and also it made sense in a post-Endgame world. There is this sort of power vacuum and people are looking for the next Iron Man, and the question is, who is going to step up and fill that role?

Was he always the character you wanted to be in the sequel, or did you entertain other possibilities?

There were three building blocks that we knew we wanted when we went into this movie. We knew we would be dealing with the fallout from Endgame, we knew we wanted to do a European roadtrip, and we knew we wanted Mysterio in the film, so those were the three things that we started with and we developed the story from there.

Talk a little about getting Jake Gyllenhaal involved, because he's pretty much perfect casting. Was he always going to be the guy, or did you look at several people?

When we realized what we needed Mysterio to do, the extremes he would be playing in this film, that's when Jake's name just shot to the top of the list. There are very few actors who can do both sides of this character in the way Jake could. In a way, it was perfect for him.

I feel like the film is saying something subversive, for lack of a better word. At the end, there's a character that says something to the effect of, "People will believe anything these days," and it seemed to me like that statement carries over into our real world quite a bit.

I mean, yeah, it's true, and there's a good side and a bad side to that. People do look to stories and myths to help make sense of their lives and find things to believe in, and that's something that can be used for good and for evil. And I think that's always going to be a tension in the world, and it was an interesting scene to explore in a superhero movie, and Mysterio is kind of the perfect person to explore that idea.

There's also this idea that no one listens to you unless you're wearing a cape, which kind of seems true – at least in terms of box office nowadays – I'm curious about your feelings on that.

It is nice to tell a story that does touch on things that may be relevant to the real world, and it's funny to think of it in the context of films. [Laughs] We're making a movie about capes and lasers, because if you're not making a movie with capes and lasers, you don't exist. I will also say, talking toys and talking lions are also things people seem to want to pay attention to.

POST-CREDITS SPOILER

It's such a tough movie to talk about without spoiling too much, but I really enjoyed the post-credit sequences. I'm curious about bringing back J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson.

It was just one of those things where we knew we wanted to reveal Peter's identity, and we knew it would have to be something that would be broadcast all over the place, and you just immediately get into, well, it should be the Daily Bugle, and if you start talking about the Daily Bugle, then it's J. Jonah Jameson. And you can't really think of anyone else other than J.K. Simmons in that role. It was never a question that it was going to be him, the only question was, will he want to do it?

And I guess he did!

He did, he did.

I was thinking about that earlier. You can cast three different guys to play Spider-Man over the years, but there can be only one J. Jonah Jameson.

It's such an iconic performance, it's hard to imagine anyone else in the role.

POST-CREDITS SPOILER ENDS

Of course it's early to say, but are you guys already talking about what you'd like to see in the next one? Are there any stories that you really want to touch upon, like Kraven's Last Hunt for example, something like that?

There's always a list of things we want to do, but for me I feel like the film's not actually finished until it's out, in theaters, and people are watching it. So until then I try to not be too much of a futurist. Take it one movie at a time.

Another thing everyone wants to think about is seeing Tom Hardy's Venom and Tom Holland's Spider-Man interact, is that something you'd like to see and do you think it's possible we'll see that?

I mean, I would love to see that, but again, one movie at a time. [Laughs]

Do you ever see yourself returning to smaller films, like CLOWN and COP CAR?

Yeah, definitely. It's all just sort of about what kind of story you want to tell and how you want to tell it, so it's less about budget and more about the best way to tell a story.

Can you see yourself jumping into another Marvel movie, the way the Russo brothers went from Captain America to Avengers?

I just try to think about this one movie at a time, because I've had such a great experience at Marvel, I would always want to work with them.

Which character in the Marvel universe would you want to direct?

Oh man. To me, as a fan, I'm just so curious about some of the things they're going to be rolling out for Phase 4. Before I commit to that, I'd want to know what's coming up on the slate.

There might be some X-MEN movies in their future.

I mean, so many. There are so many possibilities in the Marvel universe, I feel like they're just getting started.

What has the entire experience of making Far From Home, which I guess you've been working on for about two years now, been like for you?

Crazy. [Laughs] It's still hard to believe, it all happened very quickly. Now I just keep waiting for people to see it, there's been a few press screenings, but beyond that, I just can't wait for this to be out in the world and to see what people think.

And then we can all finally start talking about it.

That will be so nice, to actually be able to talk about it without being afraid of spoiling it.

SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME IS CURRENTLY IN THEATERS.