By far, the biggest news regarding "Ant-Man" was when director Edgar Wright left the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the film, leaving "Ant-Man," stars Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas, and everyone else in the hands of replacement director Peyton Reed. That was quite a while ago- yet it's still being felt today, thanks to a new interview with "Avengers: Age of Ultron" director Joss Whedon.
In the interview (which was with Empire, here via MovieWeb), Whedon explained just why Ant-Man, the original creator of the evil Marvel villain Ultron, has no part in the movie "Age of Ultron." And apparently, it's all about Wright.
"Of all the heat I've ever taken, not having Hank Pym was one of the bigger things. But the fact of the matter was, Edgar (Wright) had him first and by virtue of what Edgar was doing, there was no way for me to use him in this. I also thought it was a bridge too far. Ultron needs to be the brainchild of The Avengers, and in the world of The Avengers and the MCU, Tony Stark is that guy. Banner has elements of that guy - we don't really think of him as being as irresponsible as Tony Stark, but the motherf---er tested gamma radiation on himself, with really terrible, way-worse-than-Tony-Stark results."
As well, Whedon also explained another reason for cutting a founding Avengers from the Avengers franchise- there are already two super-scientists in the film, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. Adding a third could over-complicate things.
"It didn't make sense to introduce a third scientist, a third sciencetician, to do that. It was hard for me, because I grew up on the comics, to dump that, but at the end of the day, it's a more interesting relationship between Tony and Ultron if Tony was once like, 'You know what would be a really great idea?' They're doing what they always do - which is jump in headfirst, and then go, 'Sorry, world!' But you have to make it their responsibility without just making it their fault."
As Yahoo adds, it must have been an incredibly tough decision to cut one of Whedon's favorite heroes from the franchise. But it may be for the best- "Avengers: Age of Ultron" already adds multiple new superheroes to the Marvel fold. There's no need to overcomplicate things more than they already are.
"Ant-Man" opens on July 17, 2015 and stars Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man, Michael Douglas as Henry Pym, Corey Stoll as Darren Cross/Yellowjacket, and Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne.
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