The early days of the MCU were a little more experimental than they are now, explaining why Marvel Studios turned to filmmakers like Jon Favreau, Edgar Wright, and Joss Whedon to bring its characters to life on screen.
Wright was hired to write and direct Ant-Man in 2006. However, in the time it took for him to finish the Cornetto Trilogy, the MCU had completely changed. What was once a standalone superhero movie now needed to fit into a much larger narrative, and the filmmaker wasn't happy when in-house writers made some changes to his and Joe Cornish's script.
Before departing the project over "creative differences," Wright shot test footage, which premiered at Comic-Con and even cast Paul Rudd to play Scott Lang.
Some of Wright's ideas and set pieces made it into the version of the movie directed by Peyton Reed in 2015. However, by then, Rudd and Adam McKay had taken a pass at the screenplay, adding different jokes, the opening S.H.I.E.L.D. flashback, The Falcon, and a larger role for Hope Van Dyne (plans to make Hank Pym the villainous Black Ant were also scrapped).
During a recent Reddit AMA, Wright was once again asked about walking away from Ant-Man. Explaining why he parted ways with Marvel Studios, The Running Man director reiterated that he has no regrets.
"Short answer. Joe Cornish and I had written the script long before Marvel became as huge as it did, our screenplay existed before Iron Man came out," he shared. "But when we came to make it in 2014 – they had a established house style, a way of working, and a continuity that didn't really fit with the more left-field heist movie we'd written."
"So I knew it was time to leave, because our draft we loved was fading away and I thought it better if someone else did it," Wright continued. "I have never seen the film to this day, but don't regret leaving."
Wright has previously revealed that the only MCU cameo we'd have seen in his Ant-Man was set to come right at the end of the movie. He's also confirmed that the version of Scott Lang he and Cornish wrote was an actual criminal rather than someone who only went to prison because he'd tried to do the right thing by exposing his corrupt ex-employer.
It was clearly a very different beast, but with Ant-Man later becoming pivotal to the wider MCU—he'd go on to play key roles in Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Endgame—it's easy enough to understand why a standalone movie was a problem for Kevin Feige and company.
Do you wish we'd seen Wright's version of Ant-Man in theaters?