When it was announced that Marvel and Sony had agreed to share the rights to the Spider-Man character (and that director Marc Webb's "Amazing Spider-Man" franchise would be scrapped), a lot of media outlets pointed to Drew Goddard as the logical choice to direct the new solo flick. Goddard had been working on a "Sinister Six" spinoff for Sony and had also helped bring the well-received "Daredevil" to Netflix for Marvel. His resume seemed perfectly suited for the task, but the job eventually went to Jon Watts.
Goddard is currently in Toronto promoting his script for Ridley Scott's upcoming "The Martian," where he spoke to Cinema Blend about why he wasn't awarded the gig.
"I mean, I think that's more a question for them, but here's the good news. I've worked with Marvel a lot. The way that Marvel sort of works is they say, 'Hey, do you have an idea for...Here's the movies we're thinking about making...' They sort of tell the world what they're thinking of making, and they sort of put out there, if you have an idea for any of these, come talk to us," Goddard said.
"And I think, with Spider-Man, I didn't really have an idea. Part of that might have just been because I had just written one. I spent a year working on 'Sinister Six,' and I think I was like in a head space where I just didn't...you know, it's very hard to say, 'OK, now write a new movie.' So, it never got that far. We never, it never got taken that far. They know how much respect I have for them. They've been very nice to me over the years, and I know sooner or later, we're going to find the right project. It's all about timing."
"Sinister Six" was so deep into development that it would have been incredibly difficult for Goddard to immediately switch gears and assume this massive undertaking. Marvel is notoriously particular about the details of its MCU films, and producing something on the fly together may not have resulted in the highest quality. However, Goddard remains a huge fan of the Spider-Man character.
"There's stuff in all five of the Spider-Man films that I adore. It's just fun to see filmmakers...The thing is, that character," he said. "He's such a transcendent character and it's really fun to see everyone take their crack at him, you know?"
Tom Holland will make his MCU debut as Spidey in next year's "Captain America: Civil War" before getting his own standalone movie in 2017.
