Edgar Wright Leaves "Ant-Man" Film Due to Creative Differences

[Mahes]

Well between this and DOFP being so well received, the MCU is facing its first real challenge.

Which is a great thing! Marvel isn't going to be able to coast. Ideally we'll get better product.

[peckinpah]

Totally different. The Russos were directing their first film, and Gunn hasn't directed anything that made a dent at the box office. Both were risks in the sense that they were mostly unproven with the genre, but not risks in the sense that neither had enough clout to push back against Marvel in any real way. Edgar Wright, however, is an established, successful filmmaker who is used to having almost complete control over his projects. Not a good fit for the current Marvel Studios.

The Russos were directing their third movie (or fourth, if you want to count their festival-only movie from '97).

[Alvarez]

You should probably ignore the first half of my post, however my second point is my foremost criticism of Marvel's movieverse and what I hope DC tries to avoid, but probably won't. One of the reasons so many people dislike comics is where a single story has multiple tie ins, prequels, supplemental material, etc and that's what its becoming. Cap 2 ties into Avengers 2, where Thor 2 ties into GotG which ties into whatever. If done well the pay off can be huge, but it requires high editorial interference and stories that exist outside the larger story get culled or reshaped to fit the wider narrative. In comics we hate when editorials infringe on creators for the sake of continuity and somehow though their movie universe would escape this doom.

Sure other Marvel movies have had major changes in directors and other key roles, foremost being Thor 2 in which it showed. However Wright had tried to make this movie for 8 years and is the foremost reason why the movie is getting made. The movie just lost its spirit and though it might be possible to get it back, it will be hard to recover from this.

Are you insinuating that the movie going audience doesn't enjoy the continuity of these films and the fact that they are connected?
How can you even imply something like that when these movies have been a massive success?

I think you're speaking from what YOU want and not what... has been working.

[kalorama]

I respect Marvel but when they do things like this, it makes them just as bad as WB or Fox.

Only if by "bad" you mean it makes them a Hollywood movie studio, which they are. And these kinds of things happen at Hollywood movie studios all the time.

[Dabrikishaw]

Too bad for him I guess.

[Nirikins]

Exactly. Two completely separate mediums.

[Alvarez]

Well between this and DOFP being so well received, the MCU is facing its first real challenge.

They still have GotG, Avengers: AoU and Cap 3 lined up.
If anything it's just a bump in the road.

Should just let Wright do what he wants, what's the problem?

It's possible that what he wants doesn't jive with the MCU.

[Dayle88]

I reckon it has something to do with Age Of Ultron. I think Hank Pym IS the one who creates Ultron (not Stark as many have guessed) and Marvel probably want to shoehorn the backstory of Pym and Ultron into Ant-man. All you need for a villain in a film is to see the origin and motivation, both things that don't require a full film beforehand to set up Pym as a character. As Edgar Wright has had his Ant-man plan for a long time I'm guessing he wouldn't of been planning to mix with other Marvel scripts for his film.

I'm probably completely wrong but it makes sense

[joeshan]

The Russos were directing their third movie (or fourth, if you want to count their festival-only movie from '97).

I stand corrected. Regardless they hadn't directed anything that would be called "successful", certainly hadn't directed anything in the genre, and if they were known for anything it was for being TV comedy directors, so I feel my point remains valid.

[Alvarez]

I reckon it has something to do with Age Of Ultron. I think Hank Pym IS the one who creates Ultron (not Stark as many have guessed) and Marvel probably want to shoehorn the backstory of Pym and Ultron into Ant-man. All you need for a villain in a film is to see the origin and motivation, both things that don't require a full film beforehand to set up Pym as a character. As Edgar Wright has had his Ant-man plan for a long time I'm guessing he wouldn't of been planning to mix with other Marvel scripts for his film.

I'm probably completely wrong but it makes sense

Maybe we'll get a Michael Douglas cameo in Age of Ultron.

[Batmankoff]

You should probably ignore the first half of my post, however my second point is my foremost criticism of Marvel's movieverse and what I hope DC tries to avoid, but probably won't. One of the reasons so many people dislike comics is where a single story has multiple tie ins, prequels, supplemental material, etc and that's what its becoming. Cap 2 ties into Avengers 2, where Thor 2 ties into GotG which ties into whatever. If done well the pay off can be huge, but it requires high editorial interference and stories that exist outside the larger story get culled or reshaped to fit the wider narrative. In comics we hate when editorials infringe on creators for the sake of continuity and somehow though their movie universe would escape this doom.

Sure other Marvel movies have had major changes in directors and other key roles, foremost being Thor 2 in which it showed. However Wright had tried to make this movie for 8 years and is the foremost reason why the movie is getting made. The movie just lost its spirit and though it might be possible to get it back, it will be hard to recover from this.

The MCU is able to get away with this because it hasn't produced a genuinely terrible movie like a Spider-Man 3 or an X-Men: The Last Stand yet. Plus, the highs have been high enough to excuse the lows. Iron Man and the Avengers were massive and resulted in enough goodwill to excuse the fact that Thor, Cap, and IM2 made a lot of sacrifices to build up the Avengers. Also, the only thing that prevented Thor 2 from being completely forgettable was Tom Hiddleston's Loki carrying that Avengers momentum with him into a bunch of scenes that were added at the last minute for that exact purpose. Age of Ultron looks like the point where the MCU hits "middle age". After that, a lot of the franchise staples like RDJ and Chris Evans might not be around any more and we have to hope that the likes of Quicksilver, Bucky-Cap, and Doctor Strange/Ms. Marvel/Black Panther/Ant-Man can carry the torch.

[G. Boney]

Why would Marvel dump Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas, two big names, just to make Pym the central character?
You recast Rudd as Pym, then you lose Douglas, an actor with a lot of credibility.

Not necessarily. Douglas could be recast as Van Dyne (Jan's dad). Just talking hypotheticals here...I don't see any actual recasting happening. Changing directors doesn't mean a change in story or cast.

[Sprite]

I stand corrected. Regardless they hadn't directed anything that would be called "successful", certainly hadn't directed anything in the genre, and if they were known for anything it was for being TV comedy directors, so I feel my point remains valid.

I meant by letting them work their creative touches into the MCU though, not just success alone. If that was the case, then Marvel would do everything in their power to hold onto a surefire choose like Wright. If they really had any creative differences, then why did it only come out now after backing him for so long?

[Alvarez]

After that, a lot of the franchise staples like RDJ and Chris Evans might not be around any more and we have to hope that the likes of Quicksilver, Bucky-Cap, and Doctor Strange/Ms. Marvel/Black Panther/Ant-Man can carry the torch.

Kevin Feige has stated many times that when RDJ others start to leave, they'll just James Bond the role and recast.
Which I honestly have no problem with.

[Derek Metaltron]

This is a hugely odd move, one might assume it would be Marvel wanting something more serious than the comical heist idea Wright wanted, yet they're letting Guardians appear to be quite humourous in tone, at least with the protrayal of Star Lord. One wonders how this is liable to affect the various cast members and such. I still would love to see Eric O'Grady as an ex SHIELD agent so they pay homage to all three Ant Men in a way.