‘Ant-Man’ To Be More ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ Than ‘Thor’
If there’s any movie that’s in danger of breaking Marvel’s streak of quality films, it’s Ant-Man. The film’s pre-production was riddled with problems. Ant-Man was in development for several years from director Edgar Wright, who’s best known for films like Shaun Of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. All seemed to be going well until Wright unexpectedly left the project, citing creative differences with the studio. Actor Paul Rudd and writer Adam McKay took to rewriting the Ant-Man script, seemingly to make the film fit into Marvel’s bigger picture better. These rewrites, along with the change in leadership, all came within only a few months of the movie’s production.
This fact has worried many of Marvel’s most loyal fans. Can a film undergo such drastic changes and still be successful? Not to mention the fact that Ant-Man is one of Marvel’s lesser-known properties. And with a name like Ant-Man, the movie’s going to have to go a long way to make up for its seemingly lame protagonist. Marvel hasn’t taken this much of a risk since Guardians Of The Galaxy, which pleased both fans and critics alike. Is it possible that Ant-Man will once again prove that Marvel can do no wrong? Or will this movie go down in Marvel’s book of shame?
In an interview with Comic Book Resources, actor Bobby Cannavale, who plays the role of Paxton in the film, discussed his experience while working on the new superhero flick.
“The scenes with me and Paul Rudd, and Judy Greer and Michael Pena — felt like an indie film. It felt like fun. [Director] Peyton Reed [and the studio], they weren’t mercurial about the script. They weren’t mercurial about the humor, at all. They let us be in charge of that. We improvised a lot. Judy Greer’s very funny. Paul’s very funny — he’s a great improviser. The rewrite of the script that Paul did with McKay — and I’ve worked with McKay before — lent itself to that.”
“You could see that there’s a funny scene and we could actually riff off of that, and that felt impressive to me in this big huge blockbuster film. It made me feel kind of good, that it felt like Marvel was going for something different. It didn’t feel like ‘Thor.’ It felt more like ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ which I really enjoyed and I thought brought a certain levity to a superhero movie that I had never seen before.”
That bit of news may be comforting for Marvel fans, especially after they dropped the first official Ant-Man trailer, which surprisingly enough, made the film out to be one of the more serious in the franchise. In fact, if this interview is any indication, it may have had one of the more relaxed atmospheres of any Marvel film to date, which makes sense given director Peyton Reed’s experience in making comedies.
“I’d ask ridiculous questions all the time. Peyton Reed, he just kept saying, “Dude, just do it.” But I’d say, “I don’t understand. Does the mask go up this way or this way?” And there’s a visual effects guy there and I want an answer.”
“They got so tired of my questions: ‘So I don’t understand — If I was just over there, how did I get over here so quick?’ Reed would be like, ‘Cannavale, it’s a superhero movie, dude. Just do it!’ But I’d say, ‘Yeah, but do I have superhuman speed, because I was just three blocks away and now I’m here and I’m not even out of breath. Should I be out of breath?’ He’d be like, ‘Dude, it’s not the ‘Unbearable Lightness of Being.’ It’s just f**king ‘Ant-Man.’ Just say the line.’ Then it just became a joke. I had a blast. We laughed so much on that thing.”
What do you think? Does this information make you feel better or worse about the upcoming Ant-Man film? Let us know your thoughts below!
