Peyton Reed Directing Ant-Man: A Geek's Reaction

By Danny F. Santos (doddleNEWS)

As we’ve already reported Marvel Studios, which has been in triage mode for Ant-Man ever since Edgar Wright abandoned ship, has finally found its director in Peyton Reed. He is a surprise choice for anyone who was following the rumors of who was up for the director’s chair, and going by his filmography, a safe choice for Marvel and Disney. He’s a good director, he can deliver the laughs, and can expertly tell a story. He’s also no where near as edgy as Wright, but he’ll be able to deliver what Disney wants if the rumors are to be believed.

Just to backtrack for a second, scuttlebutt is that Disney wasn’t happy with Wright and Joe Cornish’s screenplay, and went over Marvel’s head to have the screenplay rewritten for Wright to direct. This is what caused him to walk as the delivered screenplay was rumored to horrible.

The Silver Lining

As the saying goes, “you can’t polish a turd,” so no matter how good a director is — if the screenplay is bad, the film will be bad. As much as I feel for Wright, I feel just as bad for Marvel (again, if the rumors are true). Disney basically took Wright’s film, destroyed it, and told Marvel to make a movie out of it. They broke it and now Marvel has to fix it.

Fortunately, they’re taking steps and bringing on Adam McKay, who was one of Marvel’s top picks to replace Wright to direct the film. Both McKay and Reed have tried to bring comic properties to the big screen before, and McKay has directed some pretty damn funny films.

What Was the Problem Anyway?

All the reports I’ve ever seen was Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige praising Wright’s vision for Ant-Man, so it’s easy to believe that it was Disney that had the screenplay rewritten. Try to imagine Disney greenlighting any of Wright’s previous work… I can’t, so I’m working on the assumption that Disney doesn’t get Wright’s humor and sensibility.

Cue the rewrite to fix a screenplay they don’t understand.

Now Marvel is stuck with a screenplay that’s unfilmable and a parent corporation that is unwilling to make the film you originally wanted to make. The best they can do is the middle ground, which is what it sounds like they’re doing.

Where does that leave us? For me, I’m not as excited about this project anymore, since the primary reason I wanted to see it was because?Edgar Wright?was making a Marvel movie. But with a big comedy name like McKay on board to rewrite the screenplay, and a seasoned director like Peyton to take the reigns, I’m no longer filled with dread, either.

I suspect we’ll get a good movie out of this yet, but I’ll always long for what could have been. I would love to get my hands on Wright and Cornish’s screenplay someday and dream “what if?”

Ant-Man is still on track for a July 17, 2015 release, which means McKay needs to do double-time, possibly with another writer, to get the script in shape for filming.

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