Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts on his fanboy credentials, and the prospects of Marvel Cinematic Universe

As anyone who saw last year’s blockbuster Captain America: Civil War knows, Spider-Man is back.

This latest reincarnation of Marvel Comics’ famed web-slinging superhero – the third film rebirth in two decades – saw British actor Tom Holland take on the role. Recruited by Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jnr), this acrobatic school kid joined in when Iron Man faced off against his one-time ally Captain America.

Now the 21-year-old Holland gets his first standalone adventure: Spider-Man: Homecoming, directed by Jon Watts. The relatively untested Holland – his credits include small roles in Ron Howard’s In the Heart of the Sea and James Gray’s The Lost City of Z – is experiencing a baptism of fire in the role, and the same can be said for Watts, whose only previous feature experience was directing supernatural horror film Clown (2014) and the noirish thriller Cop Car (2015), with Kevin Bacon.

As Watts puts it, there was no “middle step” between his low-budget beginnings and a film that’s reportedly costing US$175 million.

“Honestly, I try to not over think that part of it,” he says. “What you get on a movie of this scale is just so many very, very talented people to surround you and help you bring your ideas to life. It was nice to not have to literally be doing everything myself. On Cop Car, it was just me and my producer and my sister. [This time] I didn’t have to ask my family to do any catering.”