With all that being said, they were so supportive, and for a franchise film, a studio film—I mean, technically it’s an indie, because it’s negative pickup [Ed. Note: This means that Sony agreed to buy The Bone Temple after it was finished]—but still, it’s a lot of money, and everything I wanted I got to do, and the collaboration was beautiful.

What was the nature of that collaboration? Did you have any oversight from Alex or Danny at all? Did they give you any guardrails?

There weren’t guardrails, really. There were things about the world and the lore that we had to ensure made sense.

If you go on Reddit, the fans can be pretty fastidious.

It’s really intense. I used to be a very online nerdy fan as well, and I still have that spirit within me, so I get it.

But no, they’re producers on the film, and they’re also directors, so I’m always nervous walking into that space, being like, “Oh, are they trying to get me to direct it in the way they would?” They really didn’t. Alex was an amazing writer-producer to me, and Danny was an amazing producer. We had creative conversations, they had thoughts, they had notes, and whatever, but I was always allowed to do what I thought was right. And that’s the best kind of producing to me, when [they] have really strong opinions, but [they’re] also like, “But it’s up to you.”

In terms of having that freedom, previously you’ve worked in the Marvel machine, which is famously hands-on; I think that was your experience with The Marvels. How did they compare?

They’re so different, because it’s like, I made the 32nd Marvel film, or something… And to be fair, every process is different. And the other thing that’s cool about doing a Marvel film is like, as soon as you’re hired, the first thing they say is, “Talk to the other directors, so you know what it’s like.” They’re really creative and smart people, and I love them all. I was visiting the Avengers set last summer, and just hanging out with [Marvel Studios co-president] Louis D’Esposito.

It’s also a Disney family film. It’s a very different energy, and built into it are these insane financial stakes because of what the other movies have done. They were also in a very specific period in their life cycle. Whereas [The Bone Temple] is the fourth film in a non-intentional franchise that’s only getting made because Danny and Alex were like, I have a story to tell now. Specifically, Alex was like, I know what the next phase of this is. And also, you know, there was a script. [Laughs.]

You’ve said before that both The Marvels and Candyman suffered from the lack of good scripts, and that made your job tougher.

I think I’ve just learned what I need. I put a lot of trust into my producers, and Candyman and The Marvels had great producers. Again, great team, it’s just that shit happens sometimes. What’re you gonna do? But yeah, I think that when you get an Alex Garland script, you’re just like, Okay, great, this is amazing.

Did it feel like you had less pressure on your shoulders coming into The Bone Temple? Because there is less scrutiny—especially compared to doing The Marvels in 2020, 2021, when Marvel was still very much in its pomp post-Endgame. It feels like the stakes are lower here.

There are external stakes and internal stakes. For me, stepping into another franchise movie, the stakes were super high, because I wanted this movie to not just be great, but to be successful, for personal reasons. [Laughs.] I also love therapy, so if everyone hated it, and if it didn’t do well, I love the film so much, I’m super proud of it, so it’d still be great for me. But no, I’m in an industry where how your movies do matters, so those personal stakes are high… I think for the studio, there’s financial stakes obviously, but you’re right, it’s completely different worlds.