Small Change: Edgar Wright Out As Ant-Man Director

Let’s face facts: nobody really gives a shit about Ant-Man. Despite being a founding member of The Avengers (And notice nobody at Marvel Studios bent over backwards to try and get him in the Avengers movie), the first thing Hank Pym ever did that anyone paid any attention to was tune up his wife in Avengers #213, and by then he was Yellowjacket, which was about his fourth ineffectual alter ego. And don’t even bring up Scott Lang and Eric O’Grady, who were each killed in separate team books to advance minor plot points.

Which is why it was a somewhat strange choice for Marvel Studios to go with the character as the first movie in their Phase Three of major motion pictures, but it didn’t matter. Because Marvel Studios had announced that Edgar Wright, the director of my favorite movie of 2013, The World’s End, was going to be directing the flick.

The key word in that sentence, however, is “was.” Because he ain’t gonna be doing it anymore.

From the announcement:

Marvel and Edgar Wright jointly announced today that the studio and director have parted ways on ANT-MAN due to differences in their vision of the film. The decision to move on is amicable and does not impact the release date on July 17, 2015. A new director will be announced shortly.

Now, this isn’t the first time that Marvel Studios has whacked someone high profile from a project – Terrence Howard got icked from Iron Man 2 pretty early, and Edward Norton got fired as The Hulk early in the process of casting Avengers – but it’s still disappointing.

Because again: almost nobody gives a tinker’s damn about Ant-Man. He rides ants, for Christ’s sake. On a good day, he fights fucking wasps (no pun intended). On a good day, he might punch Thanos in the dick seconds before being incinerated.

But I was looking forward to the next Edgar Wright flick. And I still am… whatever that winds up being.

(via Bleeding Cool)