Here’s some disturbing news from the Marvel Cinematic Universe that we definitely didn’t expect: Variety is reporting that The World’s End director Edgar Wright has left **Ant-Man.
Quoting a statement from the company and Wright himself, all we know so far is that Wright and Marvel parted ways due to differences in their vision for the film. It was apparently an amicable situation and the studio has found a new director already. We’ll have to wait and see who that is, as the statement doesn’t specify.
This is something of a shock, because Wright has been involved with the project for years now, writing the script with Joe Cornish and long planning to make the film. He’s been through a number of drafts, adapting the concept for the movie as the MCU took off and became a sprawling, interconnected series of films.
He was deep in pre-production on the film, preparing to shoot with a cast that includes Michael Douglas, Paul Rudd, Patrick Wilson, Corey Stoll and Evangeline Lily.
We’re told the planned July 17, 2015 release date is unaffected, so whoever takes the reins is going to have to be up and running pretty quickly. It’s hard not to feel disappointed at this development – after all, we’ve waited to see Edgar’s take on the character for years – but hopefully Marvel has found someone able to take over.