SDCC: Ant-Man panel confirms roles and tests more footage

Marvel, as always, closed out the Saturday events in Hall H with panels for Ant-Man and The Avengers: Age of Ultron. For the Ant-Man panel we received confirmation on who has been cast in which role as well as some new footage.

Present for the panel were director Peyton Reed, Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Corey Stoll, and Evangeline Lilly. Reed was apparently met with very low enthusiasm which I can honestly say I expected. After the fiasco with Edgar Wright it's an understatement to say fans are pretty pissed. Evangeline Lilly also mentioned that her main job up until today was to avoid the press. Apparently Marvel didn't want any information about her role or her involvement prior to SDCC.

While on the subject of roles, we did learn which roles Lilly and Corey Stoll have been cast. Lilly will be playing Hank Pym's daughter, Hope Van Dyne (aka, Wasp), while Stoll will be playing Darren Cross (aka, Yellowjacket).
The basic plot revealed during the panel includes information surrounding a heist after Hank Pym (Douglas) appoints Scott Lang (Rudd) to takeover the Ant-Man suit. Cross begins taking Pym's company in an unfavorable direction and eventually gets his hand on some Ant-Man particles and does wear the Yellowjacket suit for this film.

Ant-Man will begin full production in two weeks in Atlanta and is still set for release on July 17, 2015.

Actors depart Ant-Man due to scheduling conflicts

Ant-Man just can't seem to catch a break. In addition to massive rewrites and director Edgar Wright suddenly leaving the project, there is now news that three actors have dropped out of the project due to scheduling conflicts caused by the film's delay.

The actors that have left include Patrick Wilson, Matt Gerard, and Kevin Weisman. Wilson's character is rumored to be a villain so he will no doubt remain in the script but will require a recasting. The other two characters have apparently been cut out of the latest rewrite entirely and will not require recasting.

Ant-Man still has Michael Douglas, Paul Rudd, Michael Pena, Corey Stoll, and Evangeline Lilly on board. It is set to kick off Marvel Phase Three on July 17, 2015. 

Peyton Reed to direct Ant-Man

It's been a long couple weeks, but Ant-Man finally has a new director. Peyton Reed has been hired to replace Edgar Wright in the director's chair. Along with this news, we learned that director Adam McKay, who was initially rumored to have the job, is onboard as a screenwriter.

Reed hasn't directed a whole lot, but titles you might recognize are Yes Man, The Break-Up, and the semi-cult adored cheerleading comedy Bring it On. He also directed episodes of the Back to the Future television series back in 1991 as well as 13-episodes of The Weird Al Show in 1997.

Marvel also decided to release an initial synopsis for Ant-Man to try and get interest back up:

"Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, con-man Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world."

Ant-Man is still slated for release on July 17, 2015 and stars Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Patrick Wilson, Michael Pena, and Corey Stoll.

Ant-Man vacancy saga continues. Who will direct?

There are two conflicting sides to this bit of news today.

Initially there were reports that director Rawson Thurber was offered the director's spot for Ant-Man and quickly turned it down. There was no reasoning given and it made him the second director in a week to turn it down after director Adam McKay passed on it.
However, Jeremy Smith from AICN (Ain't it Cool News) has come out saying Thurber was never even offered the job and people need to change their stories.

Either way, Ant-Man is proving to be very difficult and with the production start date coming up fast there is no doubt that Marvel is probably scrambling at this point. My guess will be we will see either a very familiar face or someone we don't even know. With that said, I won't be surprised if we see a familiar name like Gore Verbinski or Brett Ratner. I won't like it but it won't be surprising.

Personally, I think the only other director I would like to give this one a go would be Matthew Vaughn. Between X-Men: First Class and Kick-Ass I think he would be a great fit for Ant-Man, but it probably won't happen. He's currently on as a producer for Fox's Fantastic Four reboot and will be doing press for Kingsman: The Secret Service later this year. Another one I would love to see get a chance (think about it) is Spike Jonze. Other good possibilities would be Gareth Evans, Rupert Wyatt, McG, or Jeff Wadlow.

Any directors you would like to see get a chance with Ant-Man or is this movie doomed before it even gets rolling?

[Updated] Ant-Man potential directors narrowed down

Marvel is scrambling to find a new director for Ant-Man after Edgar Wright departed the project earlier this week. We now have a shortlist of directors in contention for the spot. The list includes Rawson Marshall Thurber, Adam McKay, Ruben Fleischer, and Jonathan Levine.

Here is a list of some of the films we have gotten from these guys:

Thurber sat in the chair for We're the Millers, Dodgeball: An Underdog Story, and was announced to be returning for a We're the Millers sequel.

McKay brought us a decent number of Digital Shorts on Saturday Night Live, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Step Brothers, The Other Guys, and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. He also has a long list of writing credits to his name.

Fleischer brought us Zombieland, Gangster Squad, 30 Minutes or Less, and has directed a number of Funny or Die skits. He also has producer credits for Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory.

Levine is probably the farthest from comedy as his credits include the horror flick All the Boys Love Mandy Lane and films like 50/50, Warm Bodies, and The Wackness.


With this shortlist it appears that Marvel is still looking to maintain a level of quirkiness and humor with Ant-Man because three of these guys mostly deal with comedies. One of the rumors was that Marvel thought Wright's British humor was a bit too weird for a primarily American audience, so searching for American directors makes a bit more sense for them, I guess. The one plot hole in that is the popularity and somewhat of a cult following around Wright's film Shaun of the Dead.
However, given that this is a superhero movie there is no doubt bound to be some action in there and I think Ruben Fleischer has a leg up on McKay and Thurber as he worked on Zombieland and Gangster Squad. The one advantage many think McKay has is the fact that he has worked with Paul Rudd before on the Anchorman films.
The potential dark horse here is Jonathan Levine because of how different he seems to be from the other three. It's assumed he was approached due to the success with Warm Bodies, but it's hard to tell.

[UPDATE]  Literally as I was writing this, there are now reports stating that Rawson Thurber is the frontronner and will most likely receive the job for Ant-Man.

[Confirmed] Why did Edgar Wright leave Ant-Man?

It was rumored that Edgar Wright hopped out of the director's chair for Marvel's Ant-Man over script rewrites and changes, but we now have confirmation that the rumors were true.

The Hollywood Reporter is stating that Marvel had been unhappy with Wright's interpretation of the character and with his direction for weeks prior the departure. What they have quickly discovered is by driving Wright away they have also lost quite a few key crew members who also departed after learning that filming would most likely not start on time. Marvel is currently scrambling to find another director and to fill crew positions to replace the people who left.
Filming was originally slated to begin on June 2nd and Wright had already gone through rather extensive rewrites of the script, but Marvel president Kevin Feige still wasn't happy. He had ordered even more revisions and rewrites of the script behind Wright's back. When Wright received the newly revised script last week he apparently walked on the spot. Marvel's way of cleaning it up was to say they didn't agree on the vision of the film.

This is still a bit shocking to me and to a lot of other people. Edgar Wright has been working with Marvel on this project for 7 years. Feige even credited Wright on the film even being considered saying that they believed in Wright's vision and the film was because of him.
However, this seems to be a trend with the Marvel Cinematic Universe ever since The Avengers was released. More independently thinking and visionary directors have already chosen not to return for Marvel sequels due to the concept of "Marvelizing" all of the Phase Two films. Kenneth Branagh did a rather fantastic job directing Thor, but he chose not to return to direct Thor: The Dark World because of clashes with the studio. Patty Jenkins had been hired to direct Thor: The Dark World but was subsequently fired due to disagreements with the studio. Joe Johnston also chose not to return for Captain America: The Winter Soldier after clashing with the studio over his vision of Captain America. The newest casualty, aside from Wright, is Drew Goddard who left the upcoming Daredevil series over creative differences.
The issues aren't exclusive to directors, either. Edward Norton came to a standstill with Marvel over The Incredible Hulk and was later replaced by Mark Ruffalo. Terrance Howard was also replaced by Don Cheadle after just one Iron Man film due to differences with the studio. Josh Dallas also left after Thor and was replaced by Zachary Levi.

Basically, sources are claiming that when it comes to Ant-Man that Wright turned out to be a bit too quirky for the vision that Feige and the other Marvel "powers that be" have in mind. They feel that they have taken enough risk with James Gunn and Guardians of the Galaxy and didn't want two bombs in one year if people find Gunn's film too weird. Hell, I went to see X-Men: Days of Future Past and when I got a trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy my dad looked at me with a very confused look on his face. Gunn has already expressed some sympathy for Wright but in the end stated that they, "just don't have personalities that mesh in a comfortable way."
At this point it does seem that Marvel wants to find filmmakers and actors that will just ride the gravy train that The Avengers gave the studio. Not to mention that Marvel is now owned by Disney and they are in the habit of milking things to the last penny no matter how many good people are thrown in the trash. If you express too much vision or independent thought about these characters, you can expect to lose your job. It's just the way it is now.


The question now is whether Ant-Man will be released on time. If they can't find a director soon there is word that some of the actors might have to walk due to other scheduling restrictions. Marvel is insisting that Ant-Man will be completed in time to meet the July 17, 2015 release date but at this point... don't hold your breath too tight. I still think this is one of the worst decisions Feige has made so far. It's even worse than the reveal of The Mandarin in Iron Man 3.

Source

Drew Goddard exits Daredevil series

Marvel must be acting like a bunch of assholes with these upcoming projects as they have lost a second director in two days. Drew Goddard has exited the upcoming Marvel/Netflix series Daredevil citing creative differences.

Goddard was set to write, direct, and produce a 13-episode run for Daredevil which was slated to debut on Netflix sometime next year. There are also rumors of Zac Efron being brought in for the title role, but that is just a rumor. Goddard's replacement has already been announced to be Steven S. DeKnight. He is most known for the television adaptation of Spartacus.
Many are thinking that creative differences weren't the biggest issue, but that Goddard has also been hired to write the screenplay for the Sinister Six movie as well as direct the film. The thought is that Sony didn't think Goddard could properly split his time between Sinister Six and Daredevil. Again, that is just word on the street.

Either way, I think this goes to show that the creative input from Marvel Studios isn't going over too well at the current moment. Along with the departure of Goddard, the studio lost Edgar Wright yesterday due to creative differences. Apparently Marvel was putting Ant-Man into rewrites without Wright's input or permission and he felt uncomfortable with said rewrites. With the way the Marvel Cinematic Universe is unfolding I wouldn't put it past the studio to try and insert certain characters or arcs into each movie as a setup for the next rather than just have a great superhero film. I like the MCU but I'm not that much of a fangirl to overlook the fact that some things are put in just to set something up for another movie.

Could this have been the issue with Daredevil? Only time will tell.

Edgar Wright drops out of Ant-Man over creative differences

This is so sad.

Director Edgar Wright is almost solely responsible for the upcoming Ant-Man film set to kick off Marvel Phase Three next year. We now have news that he has left the project due to creative differences with Marvel Studios.
This apparently will not change the 2015 release date as a new director will apparently be announced soon. Apparently the film Marvel wants to make zeroes in more on Ant-Man's origin and that is not something Wright wanted to do. It is also not what he wrote the script for either, so I won't be surprised if there is a rewrite happening along with this.

This is very surprising and confusing as Wright has been attached to this for several years already. Along the way he has been constantly altering the script and has even shot test footage. That was, mind you, all before Marvel hired him on in the first place so they knew what they were getting into. I can't help but wonder what went sour.

Michael Pena in talks for Ant-Man

Now that January is about half over we are starting to get more valuable news. Marvel isn't skimping on announcements right now as we have news that Michael Pena (End of Watch) is in early talks for Ant-Man. The role offered to Pena is unknown at this time, but reports suggest he is keen on accepting. Pena is a very versatile actor who has tackled, and succeeded, in both comedies and dramas. Edgar Wright has described Ant-Man to be a bit of both comedy and drama, so he might just be a perfect fit.

Kevin Feige and the rest of Marvel are now working on casting the female lead. Rumors are circulating around Bryce Dallas Howard and Rashida Jones, but there is no telling who might be cast next. Filming is supposed to start in April, so I figure we will have some more solid casting news before too long.

Michael Douglas to play Ant-Man

This is coming totally out of left field. Marvel sure played this one out well.

We have new news about Edgar Wright's Ant-Man coming in 2015. Previously, we all believed the casting of Paul Rudd to mean we had our Hank Pym. We now have confirmation that Paul Rudd will be playing the role of Scott Lang and Hank Pym will be portrayed by none other than Michael Douglas.
If you are as unaware of Ant-Man as most people are, there are multiple people who have taken on the suit. It originated with Hank Pym and later moved onto a reformed thief named Scott Lang. Lang took on the role of Ant-Man after Pym retired his identity. Given the age of Michael Douglas I am wondering exactly how much of a presence Rudd is going to have in this one. Unless they show the slight origin on Lang while at the same time following Douglas on his road to retirement remains unknown. It also remains unknown whether Rudd or Douglas will appear in future Marvel films like The Avengers: Age of Ultron or The Avengers 3. Either way this is shaping up to be an interesting project.

Michael Douglas makes another rather impressive addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In addition to Douglas we have had other acclaimed actors such as Robert Redford, James Spader, Bradley Cooper, Jeff Bridges, and Tommy Lee Jones appear (or set to appear) in Marvel films.

[Updated] Paul Rudd in talks for Ant-Man

So it appears the rumors were true. Paul Rudd is apparently in very early talks to play Ant-Man in the upcoming Marvel film. Hank Pym (aka, Ant-Man) is being brought to us by Edgar Wright on July 31, 2015.

It was originally rumored that Simon Pegg was being considered for the role, but those were shot down after word got out that Wright was leaning towards Rudd for the lead role. Rudd's direct competition was Joseph Gordon-Levitt who just signed on to direct and star in an adaptation of Sandman. It is assumed that Hank Pym will be dealing with the backlash of The Avengers: Age of Ultron seeing that the sequel opens just three months prior to Ant-Man. There are no plot details as of now and no villain set, but it has been said that the main villain from Age of Ultron will not play a part in Ant-Man.
In the comic world, Pym was a founder of The Avengers along with his girlfriend, Janet Van Dyne (aka, Wasp). In the cinematic universe it appears he will be joining the party a little late as we already have Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Captain America, and Hulk in the group. However, I wouldn't be surprised if they add in a Pym cameo seeing that Ultron is his own creation. Either that or Ultron will ultimately be saved until The Avengers 3.

[UPDATE] Marvel has confirmed that Paul Rudd will play Ant-Man. The studio says this deal has been finalized for quite sometime, it just hadn't been officially released. They also cited that Rudd has been their frontrunner since Wright's film was approved.
After letting this sink in a bit, I don't think Paul Rudd will do a bad job. Similar to the other heroes they have a decent mixture of comedy and seriousness and Paul Rudd is great at balancing both. Welcome aboard, Paul.

Frontrunners for Ant-Man revealed

Everyone who was hoping for Simon Pegg needs to sit down to prepare for some pretty unsurprising news.

The frontrunners to lead Edgar Wright's Ant-Man are apparently Paul Rudd and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Surprise? No. It seems that these two are in just about everything these days.
It is being reported that both Gordon-Levitt and Rudd are going to meet with Edgar Wright and Marvel executives once more before a decision is made. The role of Ant-Man (aka, Hank Pym) is that of a brilliant scientist who invented a substance giving him the ability to shrink in size as his own will. Wright is apparently searching for a normal looking actor with a witty sense of humor.

Ant-Man moved from November to July

Disney and Marvel have shifted the start of Phase Three a bit earlier as it was originally set to start on November 6, 2015. We now have word that Ant-Man will open on July 31, 2015 instead. Now it will not be competing directly next to Bond 24.

This puts it closer to The Avengers: Age of Ultron which opens in May, Inside Out which opens in June, and directly after Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales which opens in early July. This also adds more credibility to the story of Star Wars: Episode VII moving to December 2015. This also puts it right after Batman vs. Superman which opens on July 17, 2015.

Well, here we go. Yet another summer release for 2015. 

Is Simon Pegg our Ant-Man?

There have been some names thrown out for the role of Ant-Man but so far no one has been cast or even seriously mentioned. Now we have some rumor that Simon Pegg, the frequent collaborator with director Edgar Wright, is being considered for the role.

Apparently Pegg paid a visit to Marvel Studios and posted some photos via Twitter. If you recall, Vin Diesel recently did something similar and shortly after it was announced that he was in talks for the role of Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy. Now, Pegg being at Marvel isn't confirmation of anything but it is some sort of proof that the wheels may be turning for Ant-Man casting.