When Marvel Studios first greenlit its own cinematic universe, Ant-Man promised a quirky, inventive superhero adventure, but it became the project that famously slipped through Edgar Wright’s fingers. The visionary behind Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World walked away from directing Ant-Man, citing the changing tides of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the dealbreaker.
Speaking on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Wright recently reflected:
By the time I had started doing [Ant-Man], which was kind of 8 years after I started writing it, now there was a formula not just in terms of the continuity within the movies, but also like a house style and a way of shooting things… I knew I couldn’t make that movie in the same way I made Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, or even in the way The Running Man sort of worked.
Edgar Wright’s departure was more than a footnote in MCU history; it reshaped the film entirely. Paul Rudd remained attached as Scott Lang, and Peyton Reed eventually took the reins, while many of Wright and co-writer Joe Cornish’s original ideas were reportedly rewritten or replaced.
Did Edgar Wright Regret Walking Away From Ant-Man?
Edgar Wright’s departure from Ant-Man shocked fans and insiders alike. The acclaimed director reportedly spent over a decade developing the Marvel superhero project alongside Joe Cornish. Despite the creative energy and nearly completed scripts, Wright left the film after Marvel commissioned a rewrite without his input, effectively sidelining his voice. He told Variety:
I wanted to make a Marvel movie but I don’t think they really wanted to make an Edgar Wright movie. I was the writer-director on it and then they wanted to do a draft without me… Suddenly becoming a director-for-hire on it, you’re sort of less emotionally invested and you start to wonder why you’re there, really.
During a recent Reddit AMA, Wright opened up about why he walked away. The Running Man director made it clear he has zero 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. 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. I have never seen the film to this day, but don’t regret leaving.
His exit paved the way for Peyton Reed to direct, Adam McKay to rewrite, and Paul Rudd to add fresh dialogue and comedic beats, ultimately resulting in the MCU version of Ant-Man.
Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man: The Untold Story of What Could Have Been
Edgar Wright’s journey with Ant-Man began long before Marvel Studios became a cinematic powerhouse. In 2003, he and Joe Cornish wrote a treatment for Artisan Entertainment focusing on Scott Lang, the charming burglar who would eventually inherit the Ant-Man mantle:
We wrote this treatment revolving around the Scott Lang character, who was a burglar, so he could have gone slightly in the Elmore Leonard route, and they came back saying, ‘Oh, we wanted to do something that was like a family thing.’ I don’t think it ever got sent to Marvel.
Fast forward to the mid-2000s, Wright showed Marvel Studios his treatment, which became the foundation for his script. He even presented Ant-Man at the 2006 San Diego Comic-Con alongside Jon Favreau’s Iron Man. Wright’s plan involved both Scott Lang and Hank Pym, with a prologue set in the 1960s showcasing Pym in action and a modern-day story following Lang (via Superhero Hype):
The idea that we have for the adaptation is to actually involve both [Scott Lang and Hank Pym]…so you actually do a prologue where you see Pym as Ant-Man in action in the 60s…then, the contemporary, sort of flash-forward, is Scott Lang’s story…
Wright completed multiple drafts between 2008 and 2013, even shooting a test reel in 2012 to illustrate Ant-Man’s shrinking powers. Yet, despite his meticulous preparation, Marvel wanted more input from in-house writers, which led to the creative impasse that prompted Wright’s departure. Even in retrospect, industry insiders lament what could have been.
Joss Whedon called Wright and Cornish’s script “the best Marvel ever had,” while Paul Rudd maintains that the core blueprint and humor remained Wright’s (per Collider):
The idea, the trajectory, the goal, and the blueprint of it all, is really Edgar and Joe…If you took the two scripts and held them up together they’d be very different—but the idea is all theirs.
Ironically, Wright’s exit allowed him to finally make Baby Driver, reuniting his Cornetto Trilogy collaborators and keeping his vision intact. This was something he may not have achieved had he stayed within the MCU machine.
Wright’s Ant-Man is one of cinema’s great what ifs. Could Marvel have benefitted from a director unafraid to defy the studio formula? That’s a question fans still debate. What do you think fans would have seen if Edgar Wright had stayed?
You can watch Ant-Man (2015) and Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) on Disney+.
