Comic-Con 2011: Edgar Wright Updates Ant-Man
Posted 07.26.11 by Ryan
Writer and director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) appeared at the 2011 Comic-Con to help promote the British sci-fi import Attack the Block that Wright produced and Joe Cornish wrote and directed, but he couldn't escape without getting questioned about the Marvel Comics adaptation of Ant-Man that he is scripting with Cornish.
The two have been working on the script for years now, with the second draft reportedly delivered to Marvel in April and, soon after, receiving a compliment from Marvel Studios President of Production Kevin Feige, who called it the "best draft yet." However, earlier this month, Cornish revealed that he and Wright were back at work writing the script. During Comic-Con, Wright told MTV they had finished yet another draft of the screenplay.
Since February, we've done two drafts of the script, and we just handed in a third draft on Monday. So, we've done some concept stuff, and an animatic and we're real excited about it.
Considering that the character of Ant-Man was part of the original Avengers team that started the comic book run in the 1960s, fans have wondered if the Ant-Man movie adaptation would be related to the upcoming The Avengers movie that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been building to with the release of Thor and, most recently, Captain America: The First Avenger. Wright says that Ant-Man will be a "standalone genre" movie and won't be tied to the current crop of Marvel Studios' comic book adaptations.
The way we wrote the script is for it to be a standalone genre film. I mean, this should be the same for any adaptation, you shouldn't have to have any prior knowledge to it. That's certainly the way to try to do something like that it is to create an "in" for people so you don't have to know 50 years of Avengers history to enjoy the movie.
Despite the amount of time it has taken for Ant-Man to develop, Wright admitted that he and Cornish are very dedicated to the project.
In the time since we've been involved in Ant-Man, between the two if us [Cornish and Wright], we've finished three movies. But the fact that we keep returning to the project is because we're
excited about it and think it could be really cool.
While Wright remained coy on whom he thought could play the role, the director was not asked if he would like to helm the project, though it is often assumed (or wishfully hoped) that Wright will assume the director's chair if and when Ant-Man ever gets the greenlight.
