So, Edgar Wright has left Ant-Man. The official statement went as follows (which you probably saw yesterday , Tom even shed a tear) ”Marve...
So, Edgar Wright has left Ant-Man. The official statement went as follows (which you probably saw yesterday, Tom even shed a tear)
”Marvel and Edgar Wright jointly announced today that the studio and director have parted ways on ANT-MAN due to differences in their vision of the film. The decision to move on is amicable and does not impact the release date on July 17, 2015. A new director will be announced shortly.”
And of course the internet exploded (as did Tom’s eyes) with inside scoops, Cornettos and pictures of cats. First out of the traps was the wonderful Joss Whedon with nothing but a tweet with the below picture.
Of course Cornettos are quite symbolic when it comes to Edgar Wright. Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End are affectionately known as the Cornetto trilogy. So when The Avengers director fired off this tweet, geeks sploshed their geek juice into every available crevice they could find. What does it mean though? Is it Joss acknowledging the “passing” of a colleague, and saying Cornettos forever? He does look quite sombre, it’s almost funeral like. So, we’ll park our Whedon wondering there for a minute.
Next up was Simon Pegg who tweeted “Incredibly proud of my friend @edgarwright, this morning as I am always” (see embedded tweet below)
Incredibly proud of my friend @edgarwright, this morning as I am always.
— Simon Pegg (@simonpegg) May 24, 2014 And of course there was more geek juice flying through the air with that tweet. But, what does it mean, internet? One of Edgar Wright’s long standing friends and associates made quite the comment. Is Simon proud of the fact that Edgar called it quits with Marvel, after being handed a completely homogenised script. Latino Review reports that a few months back Marvel came to Edgar and Joe Cornish with some major notes on the script which were apparently about “the core morality of the piece, must include franchise characters”. So the lads went off and did another draft or two but Marvel weren’t happy and hired “two very low credit writers” to do their own pass. When this draft came in, keep in mind Edgar was still the director, it was not his movie anymore and he left the project. That is of course, if you believe the rumours which included what I’ve just mentioned, to stuff like Edgar was fired for being behind on the production to god knows what else. Then James Gunn weighed in with a facebook post that read as follows
“Sometimes you have friends in a relationship. You love each of them dearly as individuals and think they're amazing people. When they talk to you about their troubles, you do everything you can to support them, to keep them together, because if you love them both so much doesn't it make sense they should love each other? But little by little you realize, at heart, they aren't meant to be together - not because there's anything wrong with either of them, but they just don't have personalities that mesh in a comfortable way. They don't make each other happy. Although it's sad to see them split, when they do, you're surprisingly relieved, and excited to see where their lives take them next.
It's easy to try to make one party "right" and another party "wrong" when a breakup happens, but it often isn't that simple. Or perhaps it's even more simple than that - not everyone belongs in a relationship together. It doesn't mean they're not wonderful people.
And that's true of both Edgar Wright and Marvel. One of them isn't a person, but I think you get what I mean.”
And with a final effort, geeks exploded one more time. Gunn, who spends some amount of time on Facebook engaging people and offering commentary on lots of things, offered the most lengthiest tribute of sorts. People have been donning their Da Vinci code hats (complete with bad Tom Hanks haircut) and are trying to read between the lines. And while he states that Edgar is a friend and a wonderful person, is he not implying that Edgar didn’t belong in the Marvel house?
So that’s what has gone on in the last 24 or so odd hours. Speculation, rumours and inside sources. Inside sources are the biggest crock of shit going. I’m not saying that Latino Review are wrong, but having worked in the media for the bare bones of 15 years, inside sources are as reliable as they sound. Christ, I could write an article right now saying “according to inside sources Edgar Wright was fired for stealing toilet rolls and coffee”. So lets park the inside sources. And speaking of bullshit, the joint statement that was released is also bullshit. Firstly, this is Hollywood, so bullshit is part and parcel. But in “normal” Joe Soap land these statements are ten a penny too. It’s all about saving face. Nobody looks like the bad guy. If you go back and read the statement at the top of the page, the blame lies at no ones door. It’s amicable. Lets be brutally fucking honest here. If you worked on something since 2006 (Wright was attached to Ant-Man since then) you don’t just drop it 8 years later. Obviously Edgar had plenty of other projects on the boil in the last 8 years, and maybe he could have done more with the project. See, there is always a maybe in these things. However, after the amount of time being attached to something and working on it, a separation isn’t amicable.”Marvel and Edgar Wright jointly announced today that the studio and director have parted ways on ANT-MAN due to differences in their vision of the film. The decision to move on is amicable and does not impact the release date on July 17, 2015. A new director will be announced shortly.” Lets be brutally fucking honest again. What, you think Edgar, Kevin Feige and a bunch of other execs sat around a table drinking espressos and laughed it off? Slapping each other on the back, doing a spot of wrestling as Edgar walked out the door? Maybe the conversation played out like this
Kevin Feige: So, yeah, this Ant movie thing, it’s not working out really?
Edgar Wright: Yeah, LOL. I was just thinking that
Other Marvel Exec: So, Edgar..we’re thinking that……
KF: Look, it’s like this Edgar
EW: LOL. It’s cool Kevin. I know, I know. Look, I’ll call it a day. Let someone else do it. LOL
KF: Oh, that’s awesome Edgar. You still on for bowling Saturday night?
EW: Yeah, I’ll be there. Now take off that fucking baseball cap so I can get you in a headlock.
It didn’t play out like that. Ultimately, Edgar Wright is out of a job and Marvel have a bit of a PR problem on their hands. I’ve interviewed Edgar a number of times. I’ve always found him engaging, respectful and really interested in what you have to say, provided you engage him. I do feel for the guy. It’s damn hard, for whatever reason, to let go of something that you’ve held dear for so long. Or have it taken away. And while today and tomorrow will be difficult, a day will come where it won’t be difficult. That’s when the clarity starts.
So, whatever has gone down, all long as Edgar is ALL Wright, that’s the main thing!
