Peyton Reed To Direct Ant-Man

I’m sure following last night’s news, interest in Ant-Man has suddenly grown to a “Goliath” size.  After a high-profile search and a spout of drama, Marvel has confirmed the director of Ant-Man to be Peyton Reed — a talent known for big-screen comedies.

Ever since Marvel Studios dropped Edgar Wright, Ant-Man became known more for its behind-the-scenes drama than what was actually going to be in the film.  Colleagues of Edgar Wright have been chiming in on his sudden departure.  James Gunn, director of the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy, was the first to give his reaction on Facebook and wrote that the split between Marvel and Wright was like seeing two very good friends of his who didn’t belong in a relationship together.  Joss Whedon, director of The Avengers and next year’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron, tweeted a picture of himself holding up a Cornetto ice cream cone Statue of Liberty-style.  This, of course, was a reference and tribute to Wright’s past works which are known as the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy.  And, yesterday, Michael Douglas, who will star as Dr. Hank Pym, broke his silence.  Douglas said that Wright’s departure was a “very disappointing situation” and that his “heart goes out to Edgar.”

Now that Marvel has secured its director, the film can probably move past this drama phase and re-enter a territory much more familiar to comic book film adaptations — fan-fueled rumors and leaked pictures of characters, gadgets, and story ideas.

Petyon Reed is a name that is unfamiliar to most people, but he’s not a novice to feature directing.  His more famous credits include Yes Man (starring Jim Carrey) , The Break-Up (starring Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn), and Bring It On (starring Kirsten Dunst).  Bringing Reed on confirms past rumors that Marvel would like to inject much more humor into Ant-Man and possibly make it a comedy.  This could possibly work as Guardians of the Galaxy was introduced with a lot of tongue-in-cheek and the audience response to the trailers have been overwhelmingly positive.

Ant-Man will star Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym and Paul Rudd as Scott Lang.  A target release date of July 17, 2015 has been set and it will be the inaugural movie for Phase 3 of The Marvel Cinematic Universe.