Director Edgar Wright is one of the most accomplished directors of the present generation. He has played a great role in being part of pop culture with his acclaimed Three Flavors Cornetto trilogy which includes the films Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuz, and The World’s End. He is also known for the films Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Baby Driver.
With such an esteemed filmography, Wright was the perfect person to helm an Ant-Man film and he was involved in it until he departed from the project citing creative differences. While much has been speculated about Wright’s intended Ant-Man film, the director recently revealed a major detail about his version of the film.
Also read: “That’s how horrible the diet was”: Paul Rudd Reveals His Diet For Ant-Man and It Sounds Painful
Why Did Edgar Wright Leave Ant-Man?
Director Edgar Wright’s involvement in the Marvel film actually predates the MCU itself. The director became attached to the project sometime in 2003 and had chosen to make an Ant-Man film after being a fan of the comics. Back then Artisan Entertainment was producing the film and it was one of the few characters that the studio had the rights for.
While the film did not materialize, he reportedly met with Marvel CEO Kevin Feige and then-producer Avi Arad who were just forming Marvel Studios as an independent production house. Wright began developing the script in between his own films as Marvel began setting up the MCU with the original Avengers.
Edgar Wright also reportedly filmed test footage to figure out how to depict the shrinking powers visually. However, the director and the studio were soon at loggerheads. The director had reportedly written a script with Joe Cornish that was more self-contained than having a bunch of MCU cameos.
After the studio rewrote the script without the director’s involvement, Wright left the project. He told Variety,
“I wanted to make a Marvel movie but I don’t think they really wanted to make an Edgar Wright movie. I was the writer-director on it and then they wanted to do a draft without me, and having written all my other movies, that’s a tough thing to move forward thinking if I do one of these movies I would like to be the writer-director.”
With only months left for filming to begin, Edgar Wright was replaced by Peyton Reed, who has directed all of the Ant-Man films since.
Edgar Wright Reveals Major Plot Details Of His Ant-Man
It has been almost a decade since Edgar Wright departed from the film, almost as long as he worked on it. The director has since made Baby Driver and Last Night In Soho, which have the ‘Edgar Wright’ stamp all over them. He has also not joined any of the big-budget franchises.
Recently, Wright revealed a major aspect of his Ant-Man film in response to a question by a fan on Instagram. The director had always maintained that his film was a self-contained Marvel entry, exploring the genre of a crime heist. He also mentioned that Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang had a different character trait. He said,
“I think the crucial difference too was that (like the original comics) Scott Lang was an actual criminal at the start of the film and not already a 100 percent good guy. We felt it was a more satisfying redemption arc if he went from criminal to hero. Lots more to say, but can’t for legal reasons!”
Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang is a loveable thief in the Ant-Man film that was released, being in line with Marvel’s rooster of loveable protagonists with a small flaw. Though the film had the heist element in parts, the subsequent films followed the usual save-the-world storyline that all superhero films follow.
