It’s been nearly twelve years since Edgar Wright walked away from Ant-Man and, for some fans, that still stings. The Baby Driver director was once set to bring his signature style to one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, only to part ways with Marvel Studios in 2014 over, you guessed it, creative differences. While Peyton Reed ultimately took the helm and delivered a hit, Wright's version remains one of the great “what-ifs” of superhero cinema. But could the director helm another new superhero movie? Well, someone asked him.
I've wondered if Wright might be open to tackling more superhero-based fare. So I was delighted when, during an interview with The Playlist, Wright finally addressed whether he’d ever return to the genre. The filmmaker -- who was there to discuss his 2025 movie release The Running Man -- delivered an answer that was about as dry as you'd expect. While he doesn’t slam superhero movies outright, it’s clear he’s not itching to put on the cape and cowl anytime soon. If you were holding out hope for him to lead an X-Men or Fantastic Four, well, brace yourself:
You’re not still losing sleep over that, are you? I didn’t regret my decision to leave at all. I had started working on that film long before even ‘Iron Man’ came out. By the time it came around, they had established the brand, the continuity, and even a certain way of making a movie. So the chance to do something really different was going away.
That creative mismatch seems to have steered Wright clear of the new Marvel movie machine and the genre altogether, at least for now. He added:
Several years afterwards, I’d get scripts saying, ‘This is a revisionist superhero movie!’ And I’d think, aren’t they all revisionist now? It would be more groundbreaking to make a straight-up one. So no, 12 years later, I’m still on what I call a ‘cape break.’
It’s a revealing comment from a director who’s built his career by zigging where others zag. From Hot Fuzz to Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and even the slick, stylish chaos of Baby Driver, the best-ranked titles of Wright’s filmography have thrived on genre subversion, but always on his own terms.
That same instinct nearly led to a choose-your-own-adventure cut of Shaun of the Dead, he revealed in the same interview. While that version never happened, the idea of letting the story splinter into different paths based on one decision perfectly captures the way Wright thinks about narrative structure. It’s playful, risky, and, yeah, kind of bonkers. And, if (and that’s a big if) he ever decided to bring that energy to a Marvel film or a new DCU movie project, let’s hope the studio would give him the creative room to make it unmistakably his.
So, no, Edgar Wright won’t be lining up to direct the next Fantastic Four film or surprise-announcing a Batman Beyond flick. However, if you're looking for bold genre storytelling with an offbeat twist, you’ll still find him right where he belongs, and that is blazing his own path.
His next movie, the book-to-screen adaptation of Stephen King's classic The Running Man, opens in theaters on November 14.
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