Wright Talks Ant-Man!

Edgar Wright recently sat down with Wizard Universe and talked about a few projects he has been working on and the recent U.S. dvd release of his famed british series, "Spaced." (If you have never seen Spaced, pick up the series and watch it, you wont regret it) Edgar Wright was asked at the end of the interview about the status of Marvel's comic Ant-Man that he has been developing. Wright was more than pleased about the question and was quick to respond about the film.

First off, he has finished the first draft of the script and is more than happy with its outcome! "I wrote the first draft of the script which, to be honest, kind of took two years to deliver because I did "Hot Fuzz" in the middle of it," Wright said. He continued, "It was a real blast to write, I did my first draft of it just before the strike last year and I think it's one of my favorite things I've ever written." Favorite things he's ever written? Wow, that is huge! I mean we are talking about the guy who wrote comedic masterpieces like "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz" and two hilarious tv series, "Spaced" and "Asylum."

Edgar Wright has a brillaint mind and his boastful declaration of Ant-Man's script has my antcipation bubbling no doubt! It seems that Wright isn't the only one happy with his script either. Wright says that Marvel has read it also, "I know that [Marvel's] very pleased with what we've done." Marvel must be tickled that one of their bottom teir characters has a very strong script and a noteable director attached.

Wright states he was drawn to Ant-Man project because it is considered as Wright puts it, a "d-list" character. "The appeal to that for me is the fact that like, Ant Man is considered slightly D-list. The whole raison d'etre of the piece for me and my thing has always been to take something that would seem to be uncool and make it really cool and that's certainly the case with British cops in "Hot Fuzz."" Wright contuned, "To take the most seemingly kind of underwhelming concept and make something really cool out of it—I always liked that premise." Luckily Wright can back up those statements with his body of work! Edgar Wright can take a unique look at any topic that interests him, and make it work!

Wright also talked about how he can make this transformation of taking something shrinking from disaster (which has been the basis of most shrinking films) to a something positive that the character has complete control of. "Rather than it being something that's a terrible thing to happen, it's actually making your character into the most bad ass sort of action hero/spy possible," Wright said.

So, how soon can we see Ant-Man hitting theaters? Well the film is slated for 2010, but Wright states that he will be bringing "Scott Pilgrim" another comic book adaptation and possibly the third film in his "Blood & Ice Cream" triology before "Ant-Man." Could be the reason Marvel didn't even put it on their upcoming film slate that included, "Iron Man 2," "Thor," "First Avenger: Captain America," and "The Avengers." So how realistic is that 2010 release date? I wouldn't bank on it! Favreau is in development for Iron Man 2 and that has a 2010 release also, meanwhile Favreau doesn't have anything else in front of it compared to Wright! Not to say Fav's doesn't have some hurdles to get over to meet his release date. The script isn't even finished and Robert Downey Jr. will start filming "Sherlock Holmes" with Guy Ritchie this fall, but he should be able to begin shooting for Iron Man 2 by early winter or the start of the new year. Reversely, "Scott Pilgrim" is still in development stages and will not even begin shooting till the end of the year. It will definately take Wright sometime before he can begin shooting "Ant-Man."


What are your thoughts on Ant-Man? Can Edgar Wright take a d-list superhero and turn him into a star? Will Simon Pegg play Hank Pym/ Ant-Man? Will Ant-Man make an apperance in the Avengers film? Time will tell! Strike back...