Jon Favreau Shares Thoughts On Edgar Wright Exiting Marvel's ANT-MAN
Revealing the original Fantastic Four movies were the initial model for Iron Man, director Jon Favreau has weighed in on Marvel and Edgar Wright parting ways on the Ant-Man adaptation. Check it out!
While Marvel Studios first established its shared universe and self-produced brand with Iron Man (2008), director Jon Favreau was hired the same year, 2006, that Edgar Wright had signed on to helm the company's Ant-Man adaptation, which the British filmmaker is no longer directing. In light of Wright and Marvel/Disney parting ways on the 2015 project, Favreau was asked about the split while promoting his critically acclaimed Chef movie. 
When asked whether or not Iron Man felt like a gamble at the time he was directing, Jon Favreau responded: "The model was the Fantastic Four films with Fox. You were expected to spend a certain amount of money that would make you a certain amount of money back as long as the effects are good. They wanted to figure out a way to get the movie to audiences for a price. I think by casting Iron Man the way we did, it classed the brand up. It allowed us to bring a certain humorous tone that had been lost from, say, the Bond franchise. With Daniel Craig, those movies gained a harder edge, meaning there was definitely room for a new humorous cad adventurer. That archetype had not been filled in a long time. Through Iron Man, Marvel found its tone and voice, but nothing was expected of it. And then the success came, and then there was pressure to continue that brand, and that’s where it becomes more challenging."
It's safe to say the challenging aspect is what resulted in mixed reviews for Iron Man 2, and Jon Favreau ultimately leaving the Marvel franchise's director's chair and going on to direct Chef and upcoming Jungle Book adaptation, which just added Iron Man 3's Ben Kingsley to its voice cast.