MTV asked
22 Jump Street directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who explained why they would never take the gig: “It seems like a tough person’s shoes to step into, you know what I mean?” Miller said on the prospect. “It’s tough to have that as the specter hanging over, what would have been, and what could have been. It seems kind of tough.”
That said, abandoning the show now would be absolute insanity, and here is why:
An important question to consider is how devastating a loss Marvel have suffered with Wright's departure. I say it's very devastating. Wright is the mastermind and the heart and soul of the film. It has lived in his mind for years, percolating and taking shape, until it finally poured out into a screenplay which has been gathering buzz around Hollywood since its first reveal. But at a studio with a track record and a penchant for ensemble film-making such as Marvel, where handing off a film from one director to another is not unprecedented, Wright's loss may not be all-condemning.
Movies like this don't just pop out of a box. Years of development and pre-visualization go into big budget action movies of this scale, and all of that work costs money for wages and materials. Who has seen a DVD documentary for a film such as one of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings epics or one of the Star Wars prequels. One description of Jackson's process reads, "Pre-production is a key part in any film and for Lord of the Rings Pre Production started very early; Jackson began storyboarding the trilogy with Christian Rivers in August 1997. This was 4 years before its release to the cinema showing how large of a production the first film would be and the enormous amounts of effort that were put into it." What I'm saying here is that with countless hours and millions invested in pre-vis, you don't just pull the plug on the film; that would be a nightmare. You must assess your strengths and build on those.
The fact remains that the Star Wars prequels and LOTR films were still very much auteur-driven projects, and utterly dependent on their producer-directors to exist. Marvel films are not like this, and that is the reason for the question mark over Wright's head throughout the life of the piece. How was it going to work? It can't, and now we understand that. But where does Marvel go from here?
What is indelible and empirically true is that Marvel still has something very good going for it: it has an excellent script by Edgar Wright. Sure they are probably giving it the ol' Marvel once-over as we speak, trying to wedge in Avenger cameos and easter eggs that tie the shared universe together; isn't that what we love about Marvel Cinematic Universe stuff? But the script, the script is their biggest strength. It's the thing that Edgar Wright cannot take with him.
Let me now cite an example of a film that didn't even have the advantage of a script, but went on to greatness because of the strength of its star, Russell Crowe. Describing the filming of Gladiator, Crowe says, "I read the script and it was substantially underdone. Even the character didn't exist on the pages. And that set about a long process, that's probably the first time that I've been in a situation where the script wasn't a complete done deal. We actually started shooting with about 32 pages and went through them in the first couple of weeks." Gladiator took about 20 weeks to film, and most of that was without a script, and yet that film went on to win Best Picture at the Oscars. Certainly Ridley Scott was a huge reason that film gelled, but at least the incoming Ant Man director has the advantage of an excellent script to massage and improvise upon.
So what do I advise? Marvel need to stop wasting time searching for a comedic director to take over Wright's piece, and instead promote a company man to step up and approximate the film they were already making. They have these directors on staff already. One is Louis D'Esposito, a Marvel mainstay, who has directed Marvel's One-shots, Item 47, and Agent Carter, both of which have inspired fully picked-up TV series for ABC in Agents of SHIELD and Agent Carter. Surely Louis could step up and direct this film, knowing that the numerous hours of pre-vis are there for the effect folks to follow; he has likely been involved first-hand in much of that work as is.
But I don't think D'esposito is even Marvel's best bet. Marvel have an ace up their sleeve who is actually so similar to Edgar Wright, you'd almost think he could ghost direct the film as well as, if not better than the Cornetto-peddling brit. The man I'm suggesting is Drew Pearce, a fellow brit, who has a highly regarded track record at Marvel including the Iron Man 3 and Runaways scripts, and the popular One-Shot All Hail The King. Pearce is also lauded for uncredited script polishes on Pacific Rim and Godzilla.
But the credit that most favorably compares Pearce to Wright is his acclaimed superhero mini-series No Heroics. Watch this trailer to see how Pearce incorporates parody, comedy, and superhero tropes into a fun and Marvel-esque tone:
Pearce is currently working on the next Mission: Impossible script, but surely the possibility exists of sharing that duty, or directing duties with D'esposito, and getting this film made. Pearce and Wright are even familiar with each other, frequently tweeting to one another, and surely Wright would be merely a phone call away at any time to support his compatriot and former passion-project.
I'm not the first writer to link Pearce to this job, but I really want to get this idea out there and end the speculation that the film is on the ropes. All the groundwork is in place, it would be crazy to waste it. Marvel has put their trust that the star of the movie is Ant Man: it's now time for Marvel to prove that they are in charge of their own show by trusting their staff and promoting from within.
This is a touchie subject in Comicbookmovie.com land so lets get this conversation going by sharing your opinions in the forum below.
Also please click "Thumbs up" below and see if we can get a really wild discussion happening.
Please Like and Tweet this article to help spread the message of Comicbookmovie.com around the web.
Excelsior!