News broke earlier this week that Edgar Wright was leaving the Ant-Man project over at Marvel, after 8 years of development, due to creative difference. Basically, Marvel wanted Ant-Man to fit into their already established, ever expanding, Cinematic Universe, and Wright wasn't willing to compromise his vision of the film to let them do that. Rumour has it that Marvel went ahead and got an in-house writer to do rewrites on the latest Wright/Cornish script, and Wright finally said to hell with it and walked. Not that I can blame him. I mean he's been working on this project since 2006... long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe was even a blip on the radar. And it's definitely not cool for someone to tamper with and change your work without your knowledge. So, I can understand how it came to this in the end.
I got a chance to call in and talk with Kristian Harloff and Mark Ellis, briefly, over on The Schmoes Know Movie Show this past Thursday night about this. (If you're not watching it, you really should be. It's a great show. 6:00pm-8:00pm every Thursday at www.schmoesknow.com ). I mentioned that, to me, this looks an awful lot like the problems that occurred in 2005 with Bryan Singer and Fox. For those that don't know, just before filming was to begin on the third and fourth X-Men films, Singer abruptly left the project, taking his script with him, to direct Superman Returns. The studio, in a bit of a panic, eventually hired Brett Ratner and we got X-Men: The Last Stand. Enough said! Kristian mentioned that he doesn't see it this way, as Marvel is a different studio than Fox, and that they have a better grasp on their properties. While I understand the logic, and do agree, it's still a huge gamble on their part, I think. Ant-Man is a risky enough character to begin with, but replacing a Wright/Cornish script with something written in-house and Wright as director with a capable, albeit average director (given the short-list that's going around, anyway!) is just not what you want to see happen. I liked the idea of Wright because he was outside of the box, and I think he would have brought an interesting take on the character. I also think that his name would have brought people, who might not have been interested in the character of Ant-Man but were definitely interested in the name Edgar Wright, to see this film.
But this got me thinking... Is Marvel at a place where they're now willing to sacrifice vision so that all of their properties can fit inside the little box that they've created, known as the MCU? These days, it seems that everything that they touch is forced to fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. All of their Avengers related movies are included, of course, and so is their Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. television show. It makes sense that their new Marvel's Agent Carter show, debuting in the 2014-2015 TV season, will also be part of the MCU, as it will follow the life of Peggy Carter, after she loses Steve Rogers, and will basically tell the story of the development of S.H.I.E.L.D., and I'm assuming, the infiltration of HYDRA. To me, that makes sense as well. The main backbone of the MCU has been S.H.I.E.L.D. from the beginning, so I understand that properties involving the agency will play a part in the bigger picture.
When the Defenders project with Netflix was announced in the fall of 2013, I was glad that we were getting something a little different. Set to air sometime in 2015, it will be comprised of four, 13-episode story arcs, featuring Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage, culminating in a mini-series based on The Defenders. This is awesome. Netflix releases all of it's program's episodes at once, making it the perfect opportunity to binge-watch over the weekend. And then word came out that these properties too, would be part of the bigger, Marvel Cinematic Universe. Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, even went as far as to say that if these characters prove popular on Netflix, that it's possible they could become feature films. And to this I say, why? Why do they all have to be related? Can't The MCU and The Defenders Universe be two separate entities?
Don't get me wrong... I love the idea of Marvel expanding it's brand and branching out in different directions. The winner in this scenario is clearly me, the fan. I just worry that things are going to get muddled, with so much going on. Let's face it, while I enjoyed Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., it had some serious issues in it's first season, that were only fixed once Captain America: The Winter Soldier was finally released in April, and they could reveal that S.H.I.E.L.D. was actually compromised and was virtually HYDRA. This means that everything that happened with the battle of New York in the Avengers is going to play heavily on what happens in these Defenders projects, as they are based out of New York City, as well. This is an awful lot of canon to carry around and I'm not sure that it's going to work as well as they hope. Sure, a lot of people are interested in the movies that Marvel releases. That doesn't mean that they're going to watch the television shows and streaming series, in order to remain "caught up" in what's going on in the MCU. For example, you really needed to watch Winter Soldier on it's opening weekend in April, as the two episodes of S.H.I.E.L.D. that surrounded it, played heavily into the events that happened in the film. Not everyone watches every genre with the same enthusiasm, and I know that while Marvel's is hoping for it, they are banking an awful lot on the idea that those that care about the MCU are going to automatically care about the other related projects.
I fear, in forcing these projects to fit into the box that they've created, that they may be compromising part of their individuality, as well. Up until now, I've enjoyed the fact that Marvel has let it's characters be themselves, while using the threads of the MCU to bind them together in a cohesive package. With this Ant-Man debacle currently going on, it appears that they are getting more aggressive in what they will and will not accept in their universe. A lot of people have cried foul, and said that Marvel should have just given the reigns to Wright and let him do what he wanted, like they have in the past with their directors, like Favreau, Black and Whedon. Make no mistake about it, people, while Favreau, Black and Whedon were able to bring their visions to the screen, they by no means, ever had free reign to do whatever they wanted. Marvel has always been in the driver seat when it comes to their properties and what they do and do not want to see on the screen. It just may not have been as obvious as it is with this whole Edgar Wright thing right now, but it's always been the case. Marvel is in charge, and, it looks like, right now, is not willing to compromise on it's vision, no matter what kind of talent they are dealing with. Let's just hope that it doesn't backfire on them.
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