When a director takes on a job within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s understood that, above all else, Kevin Feige is the primary auteur of each film and the overarching saga of the franchise. Audiences and critics are aware of this, as complaints about the series’ entries being formulaic and cookie-cutter originated from the dawn of Phase 1. There’s only so much style and input that accomplished studio journeymen like Jon Favreau and Joe Johnston can imbue into Iron Man and Captain America: The First Avenger, respectively. Even when idiosyncratic visionaries like Shane Black and Sam Raimi get on board, they compromise their unyielding language to suit Feige’s cinematic mission statement. This harsh reality was crystalized by Edgar Wright‘s fallout with the MCU, who planned on directing Ant-Man before dropping out due to creative differences, much to the dismay of all cinephiles begging for these movies for some artistic panache.
Edgar Wright’s History With Developing ‘Ant-Man’
The saga of Edgar Wright’s fallout with the MCU goes back decades, as outlined in a Collider story. Although the MCU is oftentimes synonymous with bland and uninspired visual and thematic storytelling, constructing an expanded universe across multiple arcs was an audacious plan in the late 2000s, right when the superhero boom earlier in the decade looked to be a fad. When assembling his own team of filmmakers, Kevin Feige solicited the help of an audacious visionary with comic book sensibilities in Wright, who was coming off Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz and was preparing to make another comic book adaptation, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Not only was the Ant-Man part of the initial makeup of the MCU, alongside Iron Man and Captain America, but Wright had dreamed of adapting Scott Lang for the screen back in 2003, writing a treatment with Joe Cornish for Artisan Entertainment, who then held the rights to the character.
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For Feige to consider integrating Ant-Man, a relatively niche character from the comics, was a bold choice, and even more so, to let a freewheeling visionary like Wright take the reins. However, because they were occupied completing Phase 1 and setting up The Avengers, Ant-Man’s story could take its time, allowing Wright to make Scott Pilgrim, another longtime passion project. In 2012, with The Avengers set to take over the culture at large, Wright and the MCU reconvened to begin pre-production on Ant-Man, including test reel footage of how he would capture the shrinking effect.
Things took a somber turn when Eric Fellner, a producer at Working Title, the production company behind the first two films of Wright’s Cornetto trilogy, was diagnosed with cancer. Wanting to come through for his friend and close colleague, Marvel allowed production to be delayed so that Wright could complete the trilogy with The World’s End. Best of all, Fellner, 59, is still alive today. With The World’s End wrapped, a finished script in hand, and Paul Rudd cast as the titular hero, Ant-Man looked like a clear green light. Even with the entirety of the cast signed on, including Evangeline Lilly, Michael Peña, Corey Stoll, and Michael Douglas, the studio wasn’t fully satisfied with Wright and Cornish’s drafts, leading to constant back-and-forths with new notes. Roughly two months before filming was set to begin, Wright abruptly dropped out, and Peyton Reed, director of Bring It On and Down With Love, was hired to replace him. The film was eventually released in July 2015.
What Edgar Wright’s ‘Ant-Man’ Would Have Looked Like
Where most directors are ostensibly hired guns in the Marvel enterprise, Edgar Wright had a clear vision for Ant-Man. The biggest influence on Wright and Cornish’s draft was the work of author Elmore Leonard, whose punchy, postmodern dialogue and quip-filled back-and-forth between characters was a loose model that the MCU worked off. Because Scott Lang didn’t possess any superpowers outside his suit, the character could take on the gritty, hard-boiled sentiment of a thief in a noir. Being a comedy writer-director, Wright wanted to enforce the character’s comic sensibilities, but the edgier tone of the film would not resemble anything like a comic book movie, but instead, more like a “crime-action” movie, he told Superherohype in 2006. He described the visual aesthetic as a “special effects bonanza,” complemented by a sprawling crossover of multiple genres.
In the interview, Wright revealed that, even at the early stages, Marvel insisted that the project be family-friendly and not too dark, keeping up with the standard they would set across nearly 40 films. However, the narrative spine of the story conceived by Wright, who still received a screenplay and story credit, would remain in the final product. In the Superherohype interview, he explained his vision for a traditional origin story where career thief Scott Lang crosses paths with Hank Pym (Douglas), along with a prologue that shows Pym as Ant-Man in the ’60s.
It doesn’t take much of an outlandish imagination to picture what Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man would’ve looked like, as all his films, going back to Shaun of the Dead, have comic book sensibilities, from his interest in the archetypal “nerd” characters to the zany, fast-paced rhythms of his dialogue and editing. Luckily, Peyton Reed’s film, which eventually underwent rewrites by Adam McKay and Paul Rudd, retained the essence of Wright’s earnest comic energy. Paul Rudd, who matches the lovable farce that Simon Pegg and Michael Cera brought to their films, would’ve been an ideal duo with Wright. In the aftermath of his MCU fallout, Wright did eventually satisfy his thirst to make an action-crime caper with Baby Driver, his grittiest film to date.
The Clash Between Singular Visions and MCU’s House Style
“I wanted to make a Marvel movie, but I don’t think they really wanted to make an Edgar Wright movie,” Edgar Wright said, reflecting on the fallout in 2017. Considering that he did adapt a comic book in Scott Pilgrim, Wright certainly was not thumbing his nose at the medium, but he was hopeful that he could converge the franchise’s demands with his own unique traits. Marvel seemed to be the most hung up on Scott Lang being too unlikable, even though the series was founded on Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), a promiscuous, binge-drinking, weapons manufacturer who learns how to be a selfless hero in Iron Man. Before Ant-Man‘s release, Kevin Feige emphasized the character’s importance to the series’ overall arc. However, to its credit, the film has a stand-alone quality, making it accessible for any auteur director to put their stamp on.
Ant-Man is fun but ultimately frivolous, which honestly was refreshing at the time, especially as a palate-cleanser to the monumental franchise stakes of Avengers: Age of Ultron. However, the lack of artistic panache only reminds us of what we lost when Edgar Wright dropped out. Peyton Reed is one of the best comedy directors of his era, but superhero blockbusters do not play to his strengths, explaining why Ant-Man has the aesthetic of a TV movie. Wright, a director obsessed with classic Hollywood and British genre movies, would have infused the film with unlimited style, something a story about a picaresque hero like Scott Lang needs.
Edgar Wright’s departure from his dream Marvel project indicated the direction of the MCU in its future phases. In the early years, they hired experienced studio filmmakers like Jon Favreau, Kenneth Branagh, and Joe Johnston. They would never be mistaken for auteurs, but they’ve worked on enough expensive films to add just enough flourishes without breaking the house style. Kevin Feige’s creative disputes with a bona fide visionary in Wright seemed to be an inflection point, as, from there on, they opted to hire indie filmmakers with little to no experience making anything with a major budget, including Jon Watts, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, Chloé Zhao, and Destin Daniel Cretton.
Edgar Wright walked so James Gunn could run. While it’s highly subjective, if Wright were allowed to realize his unencumbered vision for Ant-Man, there’s a scenario where it reaches the heights of Guardians of the Galaxy, a stand-alone singular vision with high-octane effects, zany humor, and heartfelt sincerity, and not merely a middling entry in a mega-franchise. After all, these traits are instilled into all of Wright’s films. Unfortunately, the MCU is too cautious and factory-line to let someone as radical as him change the status quo.
Ant-Man
- Release Date
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July 17, 2015
- Runtime
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117 minutes
- Director
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Peyton Reed
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Paul Rudd
Scott Lang / Ant-Man
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Michael Douglas
Dr. Hank Pym
