“It was still heist film”: Kevin Feige Robbed Fans by Scrapping Original $519M Marvel Movie to Include More Cameos Against Director’s Wishes
Kevin Feige who has been the primary producer of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2007 has taken some very big decisions over the years; some of which have adversely affected the franchise’s success rate in recent years. In fact, this year’s Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania pretty much bombed at the box office.
The very first installment of the Ant-Man movie series was received well and grossed a whopping $519.3 million at the box office. The movie was initially supposed to be directed by Edgar Wright but finally ended up being directed by Peyton Reed. Recently, it was revealed why Wright exited the project even though he had been working on it for years.
Kevin Feige Wanted More Cameos in Ant-Man
Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish had begun developing a live-action film on the Marvel superhero Ant-Man in 2006. However, eight years later, in 2014, Wright and Marvel Studios which is presided over by Kevin Feige, announced that the former is leaving the project citing “creative differences”. Director Peyton Reed swooped in to save the superhero adaptation but the reasons behind Wright’s exit were unknown until recently.
The reason why the Baby Driver director parted ways with Marvel Studios was that he did not want Ant-Man to have any links to other Marvel characters. His approach to making the film was keeping it centered on Scott Lang aka Ant-Man which meant that there would be no MCU characters in the film if he were to direct it.
Kevin Feige obviously did not want that so he had Peyton Reed direct the movie. Consequently, the audience got a brief scene in which Falcon is seen against Ant-Man inside the Avengers Compound. Feige’s intention to incorporate more MCU elements did not coincide with Wright’s vision for it.
Ant-Man Would Be a Very Different Story
In an interview with The Direct, the editor of Ant-Man Colby Parker Jr. revealed that in Wright’s script, the gang which was supposed to do the heist originally consisted of more than the 3 people shown in the film. Parker said:
His film, it was still heist film. But remember how we have three mains. I think there were, like, 15 people within the gang, the gang that was going to do the big heist. I remember I never got to see his script. But I remember hearing that once in discussions when all the big muckety mucks were in the room… [The heist] was going to be more of a collaborative effort and more of a 15-hander than a three-hander…”
Edgar Wright is known for his unique and original filmmaking approach so if he were to direct Ant-Man, it is evident that the movie would have been completely different from what it is right now. While there have been no mentions of Wright working with Marvel Studios, given that they don’t have any bad blood and have maintained a friendly relation, maybe they will collaborate in the future.
Source: The Direct
