Thomas Roach on the situation surrounding Marvel’s Ant-Man…
Recently it was announced that Edgar Wright had walked away from Marvel’s Ant-Man project despite being attached since 2006. Filming was due to start within a couple of weeks and, despite Wright leaving, Marvel has stated that the film will make its expected release date in July 2015.
It is believed that Wright left over changes to the script and because of the nature of his directing it looks like that he is not willing to compromise his vision for Marvel. His original Ant-Man script may have fitted perfectly into Marvel’s plans back in 2006 when Wright was announced to be working on the project, however due to the expansion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe his original vision may no longer fit into the established vision.
Marvel has a very specific vision and so does Wright. Looking at Wright’s other films it is clear he has a unique vision and it is rumoured that he did rewrite the script with Joe Cornish to compromise for Marvel, but that still wasn’t good enough. It is likely that the relationship between Wright and Marvel deteriorated a long time ago and the announcement was planned to be this close to the start of the shoot.
Recently some potential directors have been rumoured to take on the role. Many speculated that James Gunn would end up directing Ant-Man but he has personally stated that is not that case. The names Adam Mckay, Reuben Fleischer and Rawson Thurber are rumoured on the short list. All three of these directors have comedies in their filmography so it is clear that the film may still have a humorous tone to it.
The difference in director will have a major impact on the film even if the script is kept in place. Sure the story will be the same, but this new version of the film will defiantly lack Edgar Wright’s style. Many fans may even go as far as presuming it will never be as good as Wright’s version.
Are you upset with Wright’s departure? Will you still want to see the film without the original director? Let us know your thoughts, and thanks for reading.
Thomas Roach
Originally published May 30, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
