Edgar Wright Will No Longer Direct Marvel’s Ant-Man

Edgar Wright makes headlines today because he has announced that he is stepping down from directing Marvel’s Ant-Man. Wright has been apart of the production of Ant-Man ever since 2006.

Wright and Marvel had made the statement jointly and said that they have parted ways due to differences in their vision of the film. However, the decision to continue with the movie is “amicable,” and it wont affect the July 17, 2015 release date. Also, they say that a new director will be announced soon.

It was believed that Ant-Man was originally set to be released sooner to the due the early footage of Ant-Man that wowed the audience at Comic Con. Though the film ended up being pushed back so that Wright could work on World’s End. Ant-Man is set to star Paul Rudd making his superhero debut as Ant-Man. The movie also stars Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michael Pena, and Corey Stole. In an interview last year with Deadline, Wright explains why he pushed back the film.

“I had the chance to do Ant-Man in 2011, Simon was busy with three franchises, if you count Tin- Tin along with Star-Trek and Mission: Impossible. We had the story down, and it was in the back of my mind that if we didn’t do this film soon it might never happen, and we owed it to the fans. But then something else happened. Eric Fellner (Working Title Partner) was diagnosed with cancer. When I found out about that, I’d literally just finished another screenplay film for him, and it was on delivery that he told me. He has given me permission to tell his Worlds End story. That Changed everything.”

He added later:

“To Marvels credit, when I went to see them to tell them to their face I wanted to do Ant-Man but that I wasn’t doing it next, Kevin Feige and Louis D’Esposito said they understand.’We’ll see you in a couple of years,’ they said. When people ask what’s the hold up on Ant-Man, my stock line is I’d rather do it with 2015 visual effects than 2005 visual effects.”

Marvel’s plan with Ant-Man is to develop the film as part of its third phase of films. In the comic books, Ant-Man is the alter-ego of biochemist Hank-Pym, who uses subatomic particles to create a size-altering formula, but little does he realize he can also communicate with and control insects. In comics Ant-Man played a key role in developing the Avengers, which is a change Marvel is making as he comes later in the future of Marvel’s cinematic Universe.

Hopefully Marvel’s new director for Ant-Man will put in much dedication to the film as Edgar Wright did.

[ Image Via Metro.us ]