Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World director Edgar Wright is no longer set to helm Ant-Man for Marvel Studios, Variety reports. The parting is “due to differences in their vision of the film,” and Marvel is already said to be on the hunt for a new director. The studio promised in an official statement that “a new director will be announced shortly.”
Wright had been connected to Ant-Man since 2006, a time before Marvel stumbled onto the successful cinematic universe formula that began with 2008’s Iron Man. The adaptation was originally announced for release on November 6, 2015, though that date was later moved forward to July 15 of the same year. Marvel says that the director change won’t affect that release plan.
There’s no word on whether or not previously confirmed casting will be affected. Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, and Michael Douglas are all set to star, with Corey Stoll, Michael Pena, and Patrick Wilson joining them. It’s also not clear if Marvel will stick to existing script, which Wright developed alongside Attack the Block writer/director Joe Cornish.
Ant-Man fits into the third phase of films that Marvel is releasing as part of its growing cinematic universe. The move from November 2015 to July 2015 suggests that the studio views Ant-Man as a spiritual sibling to this summer’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Both introduce new and somewhat lesser-known heroes from the Marvel Comics multiverse, and the source material for both puts comedy on equal footing with the action.
