Marvel Finds Doctor Strange Director, Loses Two More Ant-Man Directors

Image courtesy Marvel

The cinematic fortunes of Marvel Studios continue to be mixed when it comes to their forthcoming movies, with news surfacing this week showing that while the studio may have success in advance planning, it’s less effective at dealing with more immediate concerns.

Firstly, it was revealed that Sinister director Scott Derrickson will helm Doctor Strange , a project that has yet to be officially announced by Marvel. (Expect that official announcement to come at this year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego, where the studio traditionally unveils new projects.) Derrickson himself confirmed the news on Twitter after initial reports hit the internet.

Based on the character created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko for 1963′s Strange Tales #110, the Doctor Strange movie has been long rumored, having been teased by Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige as being in development in past interviews. The choice of Derrickson—whose previous films include not only Sinister but also The Exorcism of Emily Rose—to direct suggests Marvel may be looking to use the supernatural superhero to move in a horror direction, similar to using Guardians of the Galaxy to push the studio towards science fiction and away from more obvious superhero fare.

But while the undated Strange has its director seemingly locked down, the same can’t be said for the floundering Ant-Man, which is still scheduled for release in July next year. Following the departure of Edgar Wright from the project, early reports cited Marvel talking to three possible replacements: Anchorman’s Adam McKay, Zombieland’s Ruben Fleischer, and Rawson Marshall Thurber of We’re The Millers fame. Since then, both McKay and Thurber have reportedly turned down offers, leaving only Fleischer in the running. So, that means the job is his by default, right…? Well, not exactly; reports have claimed that he wasn’t that into the possibility in the first place, preferring the possibility of making the equally-troubled Ghostbusters 3.

So where does that leave Ant-Man? The short answer is “in trouble.” The project isn’t just missing a director; sources have also said that the production’s heads of department also left when Wright departed, making it all that much less likely that the movie will meet its July 17, 2015 opening date. Will a new director be found quickly enough to make the deadline, or will the release date get shifted? More to the point, given the project’s troubled history, will a new director be found who’s willing to take on what’s beginning to look like a poisoned chalice of a movie? As with so many superhero stories, the story of Ant-Man remains to be continued.