Edgar Wright No Longer Directing 'Ant-Man'

http://time.com/112453/edgar-wright-marvel-ant-man/

Edgar Wright No Longer Directing Marvel’s Ant-Man
Nolan Feeney @NolanFeeney    May 24, 2014

The studio and the Shaun of the Dead director had "differences in their vision of the film,” which stars Paul Rudd in his superhero debut

Edgar Wright has stepped down as director of Marvel Studios’ production of Ant-Man and left the film entirely, even though he’s been attached to the project as a screenwriter since 2006.

The company announced the departure of the filmmaker behind Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Shaun of the Dead on Friday. Marvel and Wright had “differences in their vision of the film,” according to Marvel’s statement.

The film stars Paul Rudd, making his superhero debut in the title role, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michael Pena and Corey Stole. The studio says its planned July 17, 2015 release date is unaffected and that “a new director will be announced shortly.”

Yeah, weird. Apparently a good bit of the MCU is structured around what Wright was going to do in Ant-Man. If Feige is to be believed, things would've turned out significantly different but for Marvel building around Wright. A big part of me is kind of relieved by this though. I'm sick and tired of hearing about Wright, Ant-Man and all that stuff. Shit or get off the pot. This was long overdue.

This really caused an uproar on the comments section of a similar article over at SHH. Actually I tend to agree with the comments. For Wright to leave after 8 years of his life in this project or whatever I think there's something 'rotten in Denmark'. No doubt it's more of Marvel's complete control of their films & the director not seeing eye to eye with them. That seems to be the general opinion.

non_amos wrote:This really caused an uproar on the comments section of a similar article over at SHH. Actually I tend to agree with the comments. For Wright to leave after 8 years of his life in this project or whatever I think there's something 'rotten in Denmark'. No doubt it's more of Marvel's complete control of their films & the director not seeing eye to eye with them. That seems to be the general opinion.

Aren't we beyond that now though? Look, Jon Favreau dropping out of Iron Man 3, Kenneth Brannagh dropping out of Thor- The Dark World and probably other shit I'm forgetting show Marvel's strength. They can lose key creative forces of their movies because (I assume) Kevin Feige is ultimately the one steering the ship. It's not like WB where a filmmaker quitting completely would completely butt-fuck an otherwise promising franchise. They've got more than enough of a track record to convince me that Wright leaving is good not only for my patience (eight years, are you fucking kidding me?!) but for the film itself. Shame it took so long, if you ask me.

It's too bad that it took this long for Wright to understand that when making a Marvel film he's not the landlord, he's the tenant.

James Stocks wrote:It's too bad that it took this long for Wright to understand that when making a Marvel film he's not the landlord, he's the tenant.

What's funny is, if he had made it back in 2006 when Favreau was starting up 'Iron Man', Wright could have been in on the ground floor of the MCU. And would have had FAR MORE leeway to make the movie the way HE wanted.

Things have changed in the last 8 years, and Edgar Wright didn't want to make a movie that fit into Marvels plans. And it's not like he has the box-office clout necessary to expect to have his own way.

I'm now waiting to hear word that actor Paul Rudd is also leaving the project. Why? Call it a hunch. I really have nothing to base it on other than Wright's departure as well as these departments heads too. But think about it. Paul Rudd is a comedic actor. Wright wanted this to be somewhat of a comedy, probably like Shaun Of The Dead, which I loved. Marvel obviously didn't want this 'vision' so now I'm looking for Rudd to drop out. What about Michael Douglas? I love Douglas' films in general but I disagree with the way they're handling the entire Hank Pym affair. Actually now that I think about it this sounds like the angle that was in the Watchmen film with the old Niteowl & the not quite so old Niteowl. But that was handled brilliantly. This? Don't have a good feeling about this. Maybe Douglas should avoid this train wreck?