Reaction to Edgar Wright’s abrupt departure from Ant-Man has, not surprisingly, produced a lot of polarized reactions and rumors. If one camp is to be believed, Marvel is a faceless, overbearing and villainous studio hellbent on ruining Edgar Wright’s creative vision by passing the script on to other writers and meddling at every turn. If the other camp is to be believed, Edgar Wright is an incompetent, self-absorbed buffoon who can’t take direction and can’t adhere to any deadlines. In just 24 hours, the battle lines have been drawn, but if Guardians Of The Galaxy director James Gunn is to be believed, there’s no reason why any of us have to choose a side. He’s convinced there’s not a single villain in the mix.
Speaking in a touching and unexpected Facebook post, Gunn compared the disintegration of Wright and Marvel’s relationship to watching two friends try and be together who clearly don’t belong together. He desperately wanted them to make it work, but in the end, it was very clear that it couldn’t possibly work.
You can read the entire statement in its entirety below…
Sometimes you have friends in a relationship. You love each of them dearly as individuals and think they're amazing people. When they talk to you about their troubles, you do everything you can to support them, to keep them together, because if you love them both so much doesn't it make sense they should love each other? But little by little you realize, at heart, they aren't meant to be together - not because there's anything wrong with either of them, but they just don't have personalities that mesh in a comfortable way. They don't make each other happy. Although it's sad to see them split, when they do, you're surprisingly relieved, and excited to see where their lives take them next.It's easy to try to make one party "right" and another party "wrong" when a breakup happens, but it often isn't that simple. Or perhaps it's even more simple than that - not everyone belongs in a relationship together. It doesn't mean they're not wonderful people.And that's true of both Edgar Wright and Marvel. One of them isn't a person, but I think you get what I mean.
This is the second incredibly elegant statement delivered by a Marvel director in response to Wright’s depressing departure. This morning, Joss Whedon took the perfect picture to salute his departing co-worker, and now we have Gunn’s short little Facebook post. Both of them are so complimentary of Wright; yet, cleverly, neither one of them accuses Marvel of doing anything wrong or acting in poor faith. Together, they’re a great reminder to fans that it’s Okay to still be excited about Marvel movies, even if you love Edgar Wright and vice versa.
As James Gunn implied, sometimes life just doesn’t work out. Sometimes people aren’t meant to be together, and it’s better they depart on at least reasonably good terms than drag it out for as long as possible and implode in epic fashion. Every single person in the world wants to see Ant-Man done correctly, and if Marvel was unwilling to let Wright execute his vision or couldn’t because of continuity problems or other concerns, it’s better for everyone that this ended now.
