The Marvel film "Ant-Man" was an undisputed hit, much to the delight of its director Peyton Reed, who felt tons of pressure to deliver a good superhero movie to moviegoers.
"I don't think I felt any more pressure than I would on another movie. The pressure I felt was self-imposed by taking these characters I loved as a kid and putting them in a movie," he revealed to Newsarama.
According to the director, casting Paul Rudd as the lead character Scott Lang makes a lot of sense because he was able to balance the comedic side of the movie as well as flawlessly execute the action elements. There was also a fine line between humor and silliness that they were careful not to cross.
"We all knew the tone we were after. We wanted the movie and characters to be funny, but you have to take the hero and the powers seriously." Reed further explained. "It's showing an audience (Ant-Man's powers are) not ridiculous, but here are some of the (expletive) way you can use these powers."
Going into the next movie, which is already entitled "Ant-Man and the Wasp," Reed already has a lot of plans on how to make it as amazing as the first one.
"The goal is to keep what we really liked for the characters in the first one, but to make it a much weirder movie," he shared.
"Part of thing that we're going to explore, as shown in the comics, is how (the Ant-Man and Wasp) are such a great duo and partnership. Part of that, in any partnership, is how they relate to each other as people. Where will their personal relationship be at that point, and what will be their fighting style together?" he continued.
It was a good thing that Reed developed such great working relationships with the cast, particularly Rudd, who is reportedly great with improv.
"Too much gets made of the improv stuff because Paul does improv and I came from the Upright Citizens Brigade," said Reed.
However, they also maintained what is written in the script because to freewheel the dialogue is "a really dumb way to make the movie."
Peed also appreciates the unique journey Lang went through in the movie, where he redeems himself after his stint in prison.
"I love the idea of going from the prison, to the Tenderloin - a gritty neighborhood in San Francisco - and how it shows Scott's struggle to find a purpose. And then we go into 1989's S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters. We go into this Victorian home with all these different levels and Pym's laboratory. The visual journey is a very beautiful arc," he said.
