With production set to start up next year in target of a July 31, 2015 release date, Edgar Wright's Ant-Man is going to really start coming together sooner rather than later. The project has been in development for years and years, but will now find its place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So it's no surprise that the filmmaker is fielding a number of questions about exactly what we can expect from the movie.
With The World's End having recently been released on Blu-ray and DVD, SFX Magazine recently had the chance to sit down with Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and took the opportunity to ask a few questions about highly anticipated upcoming superhero movie. One big question that came up was the subject of how exactly Ant-Man would start to fit its way into the MCU. While eventually the character will likely end up appearing alongside The Avengers somewhere down the line, Wright made it clear that for his first time out Ant-Man would be enjoying a standalone story and personal adventure. Talking about Marvel movies as a whole, Wright said,
"I think they do stand alone. I think that’s what’s kind of clever about the movies, is that they work sort of like the comic books. They’re standalone stories, and there are elements that link them. But I think that’s what makes The Avengers the treat that it is – it’s bringing six disparate characters together."
Another element discussed was the idea of Pegg possibly taking on his first superhero character as the title role in the film. The director and the actor do have a long working relationship that dates back to the television series Spaced back in 1999, and fans have spent years wondering if the Shaun of the Dead star could end up handling Pym particles. It's a thought that somebody at Marvel must have at least considered in the last seven years, but talking with SFX Pegg shut the discussion down by explaining why it would be a bad idea.
"If I was Edgar, I wouldn’t cast me in Ant-Man, because I think he obviously has to spread his wings as a director and be seen not to just come with me as a package. Same with Nick. We need to do things separately so we don’t ultimately get seen as coming as a double act. You know, Ant-Man would be enormous fun to be in, but I think Ant-Man himself has to be a lot younger than me for a start. And there probably isn’t a part for me. If Edgar asked me, I’d think about it. But as his friend and his lawyer, I would advise strongly against asking me."
Lastly came a discussion about Ant-Man's expected PG-13 rating. While Wright does have some experiencing playing to a younger audience, having made Scott Pilgrim vs. The World back in 2010, most of his filmography - including all three movies in the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy - have contained a good deal of adults-only content. Rather than seeing the restrictive rating as a handicap, however, the director instead believes it will be a good opportunity to work out a muscle. Explained the filmmaker, "I like the challenge of making a PG-13 film. Because you’ve got to entertain in a different way. You don’t have the same tools. It’s also different in terms of Scott Pilgrim. They’re both adaptations. It’s nice to be able to do an adaptation."
Stay tuned for more news about Ant-Man in the coming months!
