The search for a new Ant-Man director appears to have finally ended, and the upcoming film now has both a new director and an additional, well-known writer joining the project.
The news arrived via Marvel.com this weekend, with the studio announcing that the quest for a director to replace Edgar Wright (who left the project last month) had ended with Bring It On and Yes Man director Peyton Reed behind the camera for the 2015 film. The announcement was accompanied by the news that Anchorman and Step Brothers writer Adam McKay – previously rumored as one of the frontrunners to direct the film – would be “contributing” to the script written by Wright and his frequent collaborator, Joe Cornish.
In announcing the new additions to the film’s creative team, Marvel reiterated the July 17, 2015, release date for the film – meaning Reed and McKay will likely need to get to work relatively quickly in order to begin production next month as planned.
A plot synopsis provided by Marvel also shed a little more light on the relationship between characters Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) in the film:
Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, con-man Scott Lang (Rudd) must embrace his inner-hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym (Douglas), protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.
It’s worth noting that Reed was once attached to direct 2005’s Fantastic Four before being replaced by by Tim Story, so there’s some precedent – and clearly, some interest from the director – when it comes to the newly minted Ant-Man filmmaker and superhero movies. McKay has also been attached to an adaptation of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s brutally edgy superhero comic The Boys for several years now, so his involvement with the world of capes and tights has some history, too.
