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Edgar Wright on Leaving ‘Ant-Man’: ‘I Don’t Think They Really Wanted to Make an Edgar Wright Movie’

The "Baby Driver" director calls leaving the Marvel project "heartbreaking."
Edgar Wright
Edgar Wright
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As you’re likely aware by now, Edgar Wright did not direct 2015’s “Ant-Man.”

Though originally attached to the superhero drama, the “Shaun of the Dead” helmer left it over creative differences, prompting Peyton Reed take over. In an appearance on Variety’s Playback Podcast occasioned by the imminent release of “Baby Driver,” Wright goes into detail on why he left the Marvel project: “I think the most diplomatic answer is I wanted to make a Marvel movie but I don’t think they really wanted to make an Edgar Wright movie.”

READ MORE: Edgar Wright’s 40 Favorite Movies Ever Made (Right Now): ‘Boogie Nights,’ ‘Suspiria’ and More

“It was a really heartbreaking decision to have to walk away after having worked on it for so long, because me and Joe Cornish in some form — it’s funny some people say, ‘Oh they’ve been working on it for eight years’ and that was somewhat true, but in that time I had made three movies so it wasn’t like I was working on it full time,” he continues.

“But after ‘The World’s End’ I did work on it for like a year, I was gonna make the movie. But then I was the writer-director on it and then they wanted to do a draft without me, and having written all my other movies, that’s a tough thing to move forward thinking if I do one of these movies I would like to be the writer-director. Suddenly becoming a director for hire on it, you’re sort of less emotionally invested and you start to wonder why you’re there, really.”

READ MORE: ‘Baby Driver’ Review: Edgar Wright’s Brilliant Car Chase Musical Casts Ansel Elgort As an Outlaw Fred Astaire — SXSW 2017

It’s not all bad, however, as Wright credits leaving “Ant-Man” with being able to focus on “Baby Driver.” Listen to the full podcast below.

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