After Edgar Wright’s controversial departure from Marvel’s Ant-Man, the studio has replaced him with Anchorman director Adam Mckay.
According to Variety, Marvel sat down with a number of directors this week, and evidently decided Mckay was the best fit for the comedy/heist/superhero film . He rejoins constant collaborator Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/ Ant-Man.
The film has been in development since 2006—much before Marvel Studios had The Avengers in mind. Wright was the major driving force behind the project, but constant scheduling conflicts and changes over at Marvel halted the production until late last year. Wright parted ways with Marvel on May 23rd after a series of “creative differences”. Rumors suggest Marvel had ordered a re-write of the script without his knowledge, which prompted him to move on.
Ant-Man will be the first of Marvel Studio’s third phase (chronologically post-Avengers: Age of Ultron) of films along with Captain America 3, Thor 3, and possibly a fourth film. Rumors have included Black Panther and Ms. Marvel, but the most likely candidate is Dr. Strange—as he was mentioned in passing in Captain American: The Winter Soldier.
Ant-Man is still slated for a July 17th, 2015 release according to The Escapist. The film stars the aforementioned Paul Rudd, as well as Michael Douglas and Patrick Wilson.