Marvel’s movie-making operation is one well-oiled machine… aside from whatever was going on with Ant-Man that is.
The film had an incredibly turbulent pre-production, with director Edgar Wright walking with just months to go before filming was set to begin. This sent Marvel into a serious scramble for a new director, eventually ending up with Peyton Reed. Additionally, when Reed was hired, Marvel also brought new screenwriters to finish up the draft that Edgar Wright and his writing partner Joe Cornish had been working on.
That means there are a total of four people who worked on the screenplay, two of whom didn’t see it through until the end. That’s a sticky situation as far as credits are concerned.
So how are they handling it?
The Wrap reports that Marvel has reached a decision on how all four writers will be credited. The screenplay will be credited to “Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish and Adam McKay & Paul Rudd,” recognizing the two sets of writing duos. Additionally, the story credit will go solely to Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish.
Is that fair?
This seems like the most reasonable approach. Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish certainly did the bulk of the work here (with Peyton Reed even using Wright’s storyboards to inform his direction), but that’s not to say that Adam McKay and Paul Rudd didn’t have a big hand in things. Making sure that all four writers, from both sides of the equation, are recognized seems like a good way to go.
Plus, seeing Edgar Wright’s name up there on the big screen will mean a lot to fans, many of whom (myself included) were crushed when Wright left the project.
Ant-Man is out on July 17.
