denofgeek recently sat down with Jon Watts, upcoming director of Marvel’s Spider-Man film, and asked what comics inspired him going into this new iteration of Spider-Man. The interviewer began by specifically asking about the “Ultimate Spider-Man” series.

“Oh, I love that,” Watts answered,  “Ultimate is great. I love Ultimate. We have the freedom to pull from anything, but I really like what [Brian Michael] Bendis did. A lot. That felt like… that was Peter Parker back in high school. And, spending as much time with his high school problems as it did with his superhero problems, which I think is really a lot of fun.

The Director didn’t linger on Bendis’ famous take on Peter Parker for long though – instead bringing up a another popular series that our readers may not be as familiar with…

“There’s also some really funny comics stuff, like, the Archies. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the Spider-Man Loves Mary-Jane series, but they have this really great anime-style illustration, and it’s all just about Peter Parker’s relationships. It’s like the soap opera of Peter Parker in high school. Those are really funny, too.

“I’m just sitting around reading comic books all day – it’s a pretty great job.”

Besides confirming that Ultimate Spider-Man is appreciated by the man in charge, this answer also reveals that Watts may be pulling more from from light and fun sources like the Spider-Man Loves Mary-Jane series. Listing the light-hearted art, focus on relationships, and humor as the highlights of the comic – could this be our first glimpse of the tone we’ll see in 2017? Outside of hinting at “a John Hughes’ vibe”, Marvel has been careful to release as little information as possible about the upcoming Spider-Man film. I suppose it’s time to catch up on “Spider-Man Loves Mary-Jane”!