Perhaps the biggest “what could have been†moment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far comes courtesy of Ant-Man, which found its director, the very cool cat Edgar Wright, leaving the film due to what Marvel described at the time as “differences in their vision of the film.†Wright has never publicly spoken about his departure in the years that followed, but in a new podcast interview with Variety, he decided to finally open up about what exactly went down with that pesky insect extravaganza — and for all of you hoping for some petty drama, you’ll be disappointed with his response. “I think the most diplomatic answer is I wanted to make a Marvel movie but I don’t think they really wanted to make an Edgar Wright movie,†he explained. “It was a really heartbreaking decision to have to walk away after having worked on it for so long.â€
The eventual breaking point came when a rewrite of the film occurred, and Wright was less than pleased that it didn’t include any of his input. “But then I was the writer-director on it and then they wanted to do a draft without me, and having written all my other movies, that’s a tough thing to move forward thinking if I do one of these movies I would like to be the writer-director,†he said. “Suddenly becoming a director for hire on it, you’re sort of less emotionally invested and you start to wonder why you’re there, really.†Ant-Man eventually found a director with Peyton Reed, and proved to do well enough at the box office to warrant a sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp — it’s expected to be released in July 2018.