The ANT-MAN Debacle - Is It Really Marvel's Fault?

Is Edgar Wright's frustration with the project uncalled for?

Editorial Opinion
By DougMcCausland - Jun 03, 2014 08:06 PM EST
Filed Under: Ant-Man
"Cancel Ant-Man! The project is hopeless!" The headlines are blaring. Fingers are being pointed at Marvel over how poorly they are apparently treating this project since director Edgar Wright diva'd his way out of production due to "artistic differences".

Marvel has a certain seal of quality and guidlines for their growing movie universe; it would be natural for an in-house script supervisor to make some necessary changes to make it fit into the larger scheme of things. This is most likely the reason why Edgar left the project. The deluge of directors being attached to the project, only to unceremoniously leave, since Wright's departure, is more likely due to the incredibly sudden job offer and the tight timeframe associated with it; also, none of these directors probably know the character like Wright does.

Not to beat a dead horse, but it really is a point in Marvel's favor that the company repeatedly changed its production schedule over the past EIGHT YEARS, allowing Edgar to take his sweet ass time, whether it be stalling the project in favor of Wright's The World's End, or allowing Wright grievance time for the loss of one of his close friends. This is a HUGE priviledge for Wright; when it boils down, Ant-Man is not Edgar Wright's property.

This is what separates the project from something like a major studio buying a completely original script and changing it to the point of unrecognizability. Yet, Wright's mindset was that the project WAS incredibly personal, and Marvel did its best to cultivate that mindset. Remember, the film was originally going to be a Phase 1 project, meaning we could have gotten the character's true characterization as a founder of the Avengers and the creator of Ultron. 

Why punish a company who repeatedly accomodated your busy schedule by ruining the development of the movie a year before its release? He had EIGHT YEARS to get this project off the ground, claiming how important it was to him, yet continually blowing it off. This film could have stood out as its own entity and been the first film of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe like Wright's original vision, yet he missed that train.
In the end, Wright only screwed over Marvel by leaving the project. It'd be like a director being attached to an American RODAN reboot for years only to get pissed at how he needs to fit it into Gareth Edwards' Godzilla timeline.

Wright should have just taken one in his self-important dignity and finished it, despite that fact that some Marvel pencil-pusher inserted an Iron Man reference into act 2 of the film. Who knows, maybe he's just pissy that Marvel cut out the cameo he set aside for Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. 
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blackandyellow
blackandyellow - 6/3/2014, 8:45 PM
I blame Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for not making him a more interesting character. Nobody other than comic book fans give a shit about Ant-Man.
Pedrito
Pedrito - 6/3/2014, 8:47 PM
I blame blackandyellow for not telling Arrowhead77 to STFU.
TheOverlord
TheOverlord - 6/3/2014, 8:53 PM
Nice counter-point.
TheOverlord
TheOverlord - 6/3/2014, 8:56 PM
I care.
sikwon
sikwon - 6/3/2014, 9:06 PM
That panel would not be as iconic (in a negative way) if it wasn't for 2 things. 1. The "shut up!" That conveys anger. Anger equals abuse.
2. She's in her nightie. That shows her as domestic and powerless to defend herself. If she were in her suite, her Wasp uniform, then it wouldn't have nearly the same emotional impact.
sikwon
sikwon - 6/3/2014, 9:07 PM
Oh, and Antman as a character sucks. I just want a good cbm and an installment that furthers the larger story/universe.
WYLEEJAY
WYLEEJAY - 6/3/2014, 9:15 PM
I do agree, Marvel has been extremely accommodating to Wright. Thats a fact. Whats not a fact, is that they only rewrote a couple lines. Your grasping at straws there. We dont know how much the script was altered. I think Marvel may talk to Wright again in the next couple days. Now that he's calmed down, they may come to an understanding.


Probably not.
Lhornbk
Lhornbk - 6/3/2014, 9:24 PM
@blackandyellow, I completely agree.

Marvel needs to either move this film back at least to November 2015, or better yet to sometime in 2016. I just don't see any way that this movie could be started and finished by July 2015 at this point, not when you consider how much CGI will be involved with showing a man the size of an insect.

Or, better yet, just cancel it altogether. There was never a huge need for an Ant-Man movie.
SauronsBANE
SauronsBANE - 6/3/2014, 9:25 PM
I agree with what others have said above: we just don't know enough to definitively say who's "fault" it is, one way or another.

Having said that, I feel like I have to defend Edgar Wright to some extent here. Yes, he'd been working on this for 8 years...but it's not like he stubbornly stuck with his very first draft and refused to make any changes to accommodate the growing MCU. I'm too tired (lazy) to find and link them here, but there's plenty of quotes from Wright himself, Feige, Whedon, and others involved that Wright was extremely cooperative in making the necessary changes.

That doesn't seem to be what happened here. With literally weeks before shooting, Disney executives apparently decided to meddle and throw their weight around and order their own in-house writers to mess with Wright's script. After devoting so much time to something he was so obviously passionate about, who can possibly blame Wright for reacting the way he did?

Also, another black eye against Marvel is the fact that they have the reputation of being notoriously cheap and difficult to work with when it comes to directors with their own vision. I know Shane Black was able to make IM3 his own thing (believe me, the Mandarin thing DIDN'T catch Marvel off-guard) and it looks like Guardians of the Galaxy is going to be a James Gunn film through and through, but how does that explain the firings of Patty Jenkins from Thor 2, replacement director Alan Taylor's loss of control over the runtime, editing, and extra credit scene, and many, many disputes with actors in the past?

As James Gunn so eloquently said, I'm sure the answer is somewhere in the middle. Wright probably is acting like a diva to some extent (him putting off the movie for so long probably didn't help, but I'm 90% sure he didn't put Marvel in a tough spot...if they wanted this out in Phase 1, they would've found a way to get it out then), and Marvel (Disney) probably messed around and got a little too involved. But in no way, shape, or form should we put all the blame on Wright with such confident, definitive statements about a situation we know very little about.
ezio619
ezio619 - 6/3/2014, 9:29 PM
Lhornbk-well there wasnt a huge need for any film, really?
ezio619
ezio619 - 6/3/2014, 9:32 PM
sauronsbane-that alan taylor thing to me is still unconfirmed cause taylor himself said that he had one argument with marvel over the composer ,so if he confirmed that argument )which he didnt need to) why not confirm the others? ,doesnt make much sense to me perosnally
Kurne
Kurne - 6/3/2014, 9:44 PM
Careful bud. You'll be called a hare-brained apologist from hare-brained apologists.
gamecreatorjj
gamecreatorjj - 6/3/2014, 9:45 PM
I do say it's Marvel's fault. This is not the first time this has happened. Most notably Iron Man 2.

Besides the movie is already vastly differant from Wright's original vision, which was 50% 60s Hank Pym and 50% modern Scott Lang. Obviously that carried over to some degree, but from the official cast, it seemed to be mostly modern focused.

Marvel would never allow an Edgar Wright film to be part of the MCU, they don't like hiring real talent outside of Shane Black and Joss Whedon. They much prefer their Yes Men.
blackandyellow
blackandyellow - 6/3/2014, 9:48 PM
Snikt

That's cool. I only know him from reading Avengers books and I never paid much attention to him. For me, the problem is the same problem I have with the Flash - his rogues gallery is just terrible other than Ultron. Interesting villains can make or break a character for me.
GizmoEl
GizmoEl - 6/3/2014, 9:51 PM
I don't think anyone is at fault here. It isn't like the two parties are at war with eachother, they seemed to part amicably. It just wasn't working and they parted ways. It's a shame, but it happened.

I really hope that Wright rejoins the project, at least as an executive producer. I wonder what the actors have to say about whats going on. I do hope they push the release date to November to allow some breathing room for whoever steps in.
blackandyellow
blackandyellow - 6/3/2014, 10:14 PM
Snikt

I like the Flash as part of the JL and same with MM. Flash and MM both have really interesting powers though, so that differentiates them from Ant-Man for me I guess.
blackandyellow
blackandyellow - 6/3/2014, 10:15 PM
But then again I like Iron Fist and his villains aren't that great ...
DeusExSponge
DeusExSponge - 6/3/2014, 10:24 PM
No one is saying anything because of Marvels snipers! Those guys are horrifically accurate with their shots!
AontheheadStarontheChest
AontheheadStarontheChest - 6/3/2014, 10:36 PM
They should just delay Ant-Man, it's getting sadder and sadder everyday hearing no directors want to sign up.

Put Black Panther or Dr Strange in its place.

Bearjew
Bearjew - 6/3/2014, 10:37 PM
No get edgar wright back
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 6/3/2014, 10:38 PM
I dont care who's fault it is. Ant-Man is a poor choice for a solo film. Not when so many ithers deserve a chance first. He's never even been interesting enough to carry his own comic.

As for people getting upset about Marvel and their strict rules, look at it like this: Marvel created their own movie studio so they could make the films THEY want to make. Not so directors and actors could show up with their own visions and throw a monkey wrench into Marvel's plans. People can say what they want, but the MCU is what it is because of Marvel's strict rules and vision. Its a comic book company making their own movies. You cant ask for anything better than that. Its like a dream come true. So Im with Marvel. Directors and actors should know by now what they are getting into with the Marvel films. They're not there to direct their own film. They are there to direct MARVEL'S film.
bythepowercosmic
bythepowercosmic - 6/4/2014, 12:20 AM
If this movie has to go down in flames in order to get Black Panther made, then so be it.
MightyZeus
MightyZeus - 6/4/2014, 1:42 AM
I agree with some of the comments we just don't know enough to say whose fault it is. It's easy to just blame Marvel but truth be told is it really there fault. Think about there time and effort trying to hire another director for the project and think about each director reading the script and maybe even coming to a conclusion that maybe the project just isnt suited towards them and it would be an overbearing challenge.

In my personal opinion i liked Wright's idea for Hank Pym it would have made the character more interesting to have him older, wiser and maybe even a villain to Scott Lang. I do think that Ant-Man should be introduced the same way Black Widow and Hawkeye have been introduced into the MCU. It worked for both characters and they are now more popular than they where before.
Pedrito
Pedrito - 6/4/2014, 4:20 AM
@HypeMush
That shit is so overhyped. It's just not that funny or interesting, really. It's just a different form of repetitive.

Having said that, bring Wright back and get this movie going, Marvel!
Or you know, find someone else.
CherryBomb
CherryBomb - 6/4/2014, 4:20 AM
It's quite obvious Marvel likes to keep their directors on a leash.
And rightly so in most respects, they have to maintain the pressure of this "shared universe" they've creative.

If Edgar Wright isn't fulfilling their standards completely, then he can be asked to leave or let go.
The other side however, Wright has been the only person Out there who has been trying to get this made and has been working on this since before Iron Man, so he has the right to get a little "diva" sometimes and be outraged at Marvel's control.

I really did not like where Edgar's movie was going at all but that being said, his filmmaking style and abilities interest me and his passion for the project means I would've loved to see it.
ThrotTheUnclean
ThrotTheUnclean - 6/4/2014, 6:15 AM
Hopefully, they either change the script to a Hank Pym and Janet story and cut Scott Lang out entirely or this project falls through and they write a new script about Hank Pym and Janet.

Honestly, this has all been karma for [frick]ing over Hank and Janet in the first place. #[frick]EdgarWright #[frick]ScottLang
BoomTubeB
BoomTubeB - 6/4/2014, 8:07 AM
@Doug McCausland

you a working for Marvel to smear Wright's character?
BoomTubeB
BoomTubeB - 6/4/2014, 8:08 AM
Marvel seems to be pullin a Hydra these days....

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