As many fans know, Edgar Wright was originally meant to serve as both the writer and the director for Marvel’s Ant-Man. Wright’s vision for the film aligned much more closely with projects he’s completed in the past, such as Hot Fuzz or Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, which are unlike anything Marvel has done before.
Based on what viewers have seen from Wright’s previous work, his style tends to be a mixture of action and comedy with a hint of insanity lying just under the surface. His methods work under the right circumstances and he’s managed to successfully produce a number of stand-alone, action-comedy pieces to earn himself a dedicated following in the world of movie-making. Wright hasn't done much in terms of making a movie that follows the same storyline, aside from the few distant connections present within what he considers to be his Cornetto Trilogy. The problem with this is that Marvel never allows heroes to make just one appearance.
It’s not every day that Marvel runs into such disaster while producing a film, and giving a new hero an origin story is always a risk, since it's impossible to tell whether or not fans will receive it well. Even though the initial release of Ant-Man was arguably underwhelming, Scott Lang has grown to become one of Marvel’s most beloved heroes. Viewers know that a second Ant-Man movie has been created, Scott Lang made multiple guest appearances during Marvel’s Phase 3, and there’s even a third installment for the franchise set to release during 2023.
By playing a role in films such as Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Endgame, fans fell in love with Ant-Man even more than they did during his origin story, because they got the chance to see that Scott Lang is still just a regular guy, even though he's running with the big leagues. If Wright were to have stayed on the Ant-Man crew in 2015, there’s a huge chance that Ant-Man would never have been given the opportunity to star in other major Marvel movies. Overall, Ant-Man was given much more screen time than initially planned.
Setting up Ant-Man to be a standalone piece would have been catastrophic to the hero’s development, as well as Marvel’s bank account. Ant-Man didn't do as well in the box office as other MCU films have in the past, which is most likely attributed to the fact that Marvel fans had no idea what Scott Lang is all about. If the film had focused too much on Wright’s style and prioritized comedy or strange quirks above everything else, Ant-Man would have been a one-hit blunder.
Wright’s writing techniques aren’t geared towards producing sequels, or leaving fans with unanswered questions that require a second installment to make sense of it all. His method is far more traditional, in the sense that his films present a problem, the protagonist deals with it, and the conflict reaches a solid resolution at the end of the movie. Essentially, the Ant-Man franchise doesn't line up Wright’s creative style at all, aside from the use of comedy infused amongst the action.
That’s not to say all of Wright’s visions were a bust. Fans loved the amount of humor woven into the Ant-Man film and Scott Lang would be nothing without his funny quips and light-hearted outlook on life. Wright’s original screenplay also served as a major point of inspiration for the other writers after he left the Ant-Man team.
Adam Mckay and Paul Rudd worked hard to take over as the creative geniuses in charge of creating a killer script that left plenty of room for Ant-Man to be given more in-depth storylines once Wright made his exit. The fact that Wright’s departure allowed for Rudd to step in and have a major part in bringing his character to life, aside from just acting, actually worked in Marvel’s favor.
Despite the unusual and unplanned collaboration that unfolded behind the scenes, the collective ideas of Wright, Mckay and Rudd turned out better than expected. Ant-Man maintained consistency throughout the entire film and there are never any parts where Scott Lang does something totally out of character.
Even though Ant-Man was written and then rewritten by three different people, there’s still a sense of unity present throughout the entire film, which makes it feel as if only one mind played a part in planning what was to come for this rising hero. Lang’s self-growth and personal development while on his journey as Ant-Man also runs smoothly throughout the whole movie, even though Wright decided to have no part in the completion of the film.
The tone of the film stays on point from beginning to end and there aren’t any major plot lines that feel forced or completely out of the blue. The return of Ant-Man time and time again just proves that the efforts of all three creators blended smoothly together, resulting in a successful outcome that allowed for Ant-Man to play a bigger role in the MCU.