Cannes Film Festival 2013

Edgar Wright shoots a secret test reel for Marvel's 'Ant-Man'

Could we be getting one more member of 'The Avengers' soon?

<p>The version of Ant-Man that Marvel used for the animated series 'The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes' is probably a good indication of what we can expect if the character makes it to the big screen.</p>

The version of Ant-Man that Marvel used for the animated series 'The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes' is probably a good indication of what we can expect if the character makes it to the big screen.

Credit: Disney/Marvel Animation

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Last year, I was interviewing Joe Cornish about "Attack The Block," and I asked him about the premise for the "Ant-Man' script he's been writing with Edgar Wright.  Years ago, I'd heard their basic hook into the film, and I asked Cornish if that was still true.

There was a long silence from his end of the phone, and he finally replied, "I'm surprised you know that."  From the rest of our conversation, it was evident that they want to keep that story hook under wraps, and at this point, he and Edgar have so much time and energy invested in the picture that I hope no one spoils it for them.

It is hard to keep a secret, though, especially on something as highly-anticipated as this, and now The Hollywood Reporter says Edgar just wrapped production on a test reel for the film, designed to demonstrate how he'll handle the character and his powers visually.  We wrote today about one of the things Marvel may have planned for their Hall H panel on Saturday the 14th, but if they decided to show some test footage of Ant-Man that day as well, I expect they'd have to pass out a change of pants to everyone in the room.

It feels like this is an important film for Edgar to make, just as important as "The World's End" will be, but for different reasons.  With "The World's End," Edgar's finally wrapping up the first major movement of his career, the unofficial "Cornetto" trilogy of films that started with "Shaun Of The Dead," then continued with "Hot Fuzz."  Thanks to those films, both Simon Pegg and Nick Frost find themselves continuously in demand now, so it's hard to get all three of them together at the same time in the same place.  It's important that they make this film together, just like it's important for Edgar to make a big studio movie that makes some money.  I love "Scott Pilgrim," but I can acknowledge that it probably scares the hell out of the money guys when they look at it as a basic equation.

Whatever the time-table, it's exciting to now that Marvel is still working with Edgar to make this one happen, and I hope we get to see this footage at some point.

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Drew McWeeny
Film Editor
A respected critic and commentator for fifteen years, Drew McWeeny helped create the online film community as "Moriarty" at Ain't It Cool News, and now proudly leads two budding Film Nerds in their ongoing movie education.
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  • Funny-farm-animals-17_talkback_profile

    goodhorse

    I'm struggling to get excited about Ant Man as a movie character (the little I know about him is that he's a bit of a whiny second-stringer), but I can get excited about an Edgar Wright movie.

    June 29, 2012 at 12:52AM EST Reply to Comment
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    KlarkKent

    Scott Pilgrim may not have been a box-office hit, but it will play for years and years. With Marvel's backing the same kind of niche could absolutely find a larger audience. (Though pretty much guaranteed not as high as any of the other Avengers films, besides maybe Incredible Hulk.)

    June 29, 2012 at 2:38AM EST Reply to Comment
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    vfxPleb

    This is fantastic news. I'm not even fussed about what films he does next because, chances are it'll be great. 'Spaced' alone is enough to sell me on any future Edgar films... and it's a tv show.

    June 29, 2012 at 3:00AM EST Reply to Comment
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    Jeffmc2000

    Was the hook the same thing I remember reading in an interview years ago? That their version of Hank Pym was as a cold war era superhero, and the main storyline would basically be an adaptation of the Scott Lang origin in Marvel Premiere, where he steals Pym's suit and gadgets to use to save his daughter's life?

    June 29, 2012 at 9:35AM EST Reply to Comment
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    Steven Hill

    Since you're not going to tell us the basic hook of the film that you heard, is there a point to your first 2 paragraphs other to show how in-the-know you are? It's stuff like that that really turns me off from your site. Excise those paragraphs and the article would be exactly the same. It added nothing.

    I like the way you write about movies a lot, but damn if you don't constantly namedrop and write Hollywood anecdotes that serve no purpose other than to boast about the people you 'know' and the things you've seen.

    June 30, 2012 at 9:29AM EST Reply to Comment

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