In “Ant-Man,” Paul Rudd stars as ex-con Scott Lang, who burglarizes the home of Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and unknowingly steals a suit that, when worn and powered by Pym Particles, will shrink him to the size of an ant. What Lang doesn’t realize is that the theft of the outfit is the first part of a test where Pym enlists Lang and his crew to go on a heist mission to steal a similarly functioning Yellowjacket suit from his former colleague, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll). Cross’ use of the shrinking technology is driven by sinister intentions.
Tiptoeing around what he could reveal during the podcast about the NDA he signed when he left “Ant-Man,” Edgar Wright noted during the “Reel Feedback Podcast” that perhaps the major difference between his and Joe Cornish’s screenplay and what fans eventually saw was that their version of the tale was more self-contained. “[It] didn’t have cameos from other MCU characters [apart from an end tease] and it was much more of a crime heist movie, with interlocking robberies and heists throughout, a little like Donald Westlake’s ‘The Hot Rock,'” Wright said, referring to the screenwriter of the 1972 action crime comedy starring Robert Redford.
Despite additional work on the “Ant-Man” script by “Anchorman” filmmaker Adam McKay and Rudd, Wright and Cornish also received co-screenwriting and story credits on the superhero film. The character originated at Marvel Comics, of course, as the creation of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Larry Lieber.
