In April, The Daily SuperHero was the first website to report that the filming of Ant-Man was delayed from its original filming start time at the end of May. This was then confirmed a month later by The Hollywood Reporter when writer/director Edgar Wright was released from the movie.
After Wright left, there were many reports of different directors who were being considered as Wright's replacement. And after a long search, Marvel Studios hired director Peyton Reed (Yes Man) to helm the movie and they also hired Adam McKay (Anchorman) to rewrite the script.
All of this happened after Wright had been actively developing Ant-Man for nearly a decade. Time and Marvel Studios becoming a blockbuster-making studio meant Wright's vision for Ant-Man was no longer a fit in the already established Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Meanwhile actors Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas were already cast in the lead roles as Scott Lang and Dr. Hank Pym, respectively. However, it was still not clear who would be Ant-Man's main villain even after Marvel released the first official synopsis of Ant-Man, which is as follows.
"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."
Now here comes some potential spoilers for Ant-Man after the below image. You've been warned.
A few days ago the website JoBlo reported a source had told them about the story and potential villains for Ant-Man. Here are the bullet points from their report.
- Story begins with Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) being a thief and single dad who has fallen on hard times and one day breaks into Hank Pym's apartment and steals the Ant-Man suit.
- The main villain's name is Darren Cross who, in the comics, runs Cross Technological Enterprises, a competitor company for Stark Industries... His cousin is the villain known as Crossfire. It's unknown if this role will be played by [actors] Patrick Wilson or Corey Stoll. He will have a suit with a similar feel to Ant-Man's but more military style, yellow and black in color... so there may well be some merging of attributes from other characters for this role or multiple villains at that (Yellowjacket, perhaps?)
- The Ant-Man suit will be much more elaborate than we've seen so far with the helmet being able to open and close much like Iron Man and an assortment of red lights all over the suit, again in "TRON" fashion. The helmet eyes will also glow red when closed. It's said to be a much more complex and futuristic suit than we've seen so far.
- Ants (the actual insect) are the main ally and superpower for Ant-Man in the film. Lang will speak to the ants via his helmet, just as in the comics, which is said to be a special element to the overall story.
While the thought of having Yellowjacket as a villain may be fine with some Marvel comic book fanatics, others may hate it since it takes the original cannon of the character and changes it dramatically. In the comics, Pym actually becomes Yellowjacket and it's then when he made headlines by hitting Wasp. This did paint the picture that Yellowjacket is not a hero and more of a villain.
Yet a change like this is not unlike the changes made to Iron Patriot in Iron Man 3. In the comics, Iron Patriot was a villain with Norman Osborn wearing the suit.
Finally, ComicBook.com has posted an article claiming they have a source who has reached out to them to confirm Yellowjacket is indeed a villain in Ant-Man. Marvel Studios nor any of the larger trade websites have confirmed this yet, but it definitely seems like adapting Yellowjacket for the movie is very plausible if the information from JoBlo and ComicBook.com hold up.
Stay tuned as more Ant-Man information will be coming soon since filming will begin at Pinewood Studios in Atlanta later this summer. Ant-Man releases in theaters on July 17, 2015.
Related Post: ANT-MAN: Director Peyton Reed, Writer Adam McKay Hired; First Synopsis Reveals a Con-Man, His Mentor and a Heist