Glenn Hauman: Peyton Reed Is Directing The Wrong Marvel Movie
You’ve probably heard that over the weekend, Peyton Reed has taken over directing chores for Marvel’s Ant-Man after Edgar Wright left the project over “creative differences.”
While I’m glad to see that Marvel is stampeding forward to avoid blowing any release dates (because Disney runs on a very tight schedule) I admit that when I think of the Marvel movie Peyton Reed should be making, Ant-Man isn’t what comes to mind.
I think the Marvel movie he should be making is the movie of the making of Marvel.
Consider: Peyton Reed is a comedy director who has a tremendous facility with the early 60’s era, as anyone who’s seen [[[Down With Love]]] should be able to attest. And really, can you think of a crazier story than the story of how the Marvel Comics most of us know and love actually came to be?
And the characters, lordie, the characters. Just think about every story you’ve heard about the merry Marvel Bullpen, and think of it up on the big screen. Consider the stories about Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Flo Steinberg, Morrie Kuramato. Think Mad Men meets Mad Magazine and you’ve got the right attitude.
Hey, if Disney can make a movie out of the creation of the movie version of Mary Poppins, just imagine what sort of movie you could make about the creation of Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four.
The biggest problem, as I see it, would be casting. Who the heck do you get to play Stan Lee and Jack Kirby? The current crop of Hollywood stars don’t match up with the crew in any way, shape, or form. You’d have to go deep. I would think someone like John Fuglesang or Michael Ian Black could play Stan, possibly even Michael Rosenbaum. Jack stumps me mainly because Paul Giamatti has already done Harvey Pekar, and Jonah Hill is too… Jonah Hill. Maybe Jerry Ferrara. And I’m looking at Jay Baruchel as Steve Ditko. (Oh, like you know what he’s like.)
In any event, I think this is the movie that needs to be made. With action, romance, heartbreak, and triumph– face it, true believers, this one’s got everything! I want to see “Excelsior!”
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