Marvel's Kevin Feige Dismisses Ant-Man Timeline Concerns - Production Starts August 18

During a new interview with Empire Online, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige once again reiterated that the breakup with longtime Ant-Man writer/director Edgar Wright was amicable and that both he and Wright had known ahead of time that fans would be upset and the industry would gossip about the split.

He also compared the current production schedule to that of Iron Man 3, saying that those thinking the film might have to be delayed are mistaken.

"Our schedule is not that dissimilar right now from Iron Man 3 and the original Avengers," Feige said. "And Ant-Man is not that visually complicated as either of those two films."

He added that concerns over the studio's relationship with Edgar Wright had colored the process of looking for a new filmmaker, but that new director Peyton Reed was eventually convinced.

"When Edgar left this project, we talked about a number of different filmmakers and had few a few meetings with a few filmmakers and ending up reaching out to Peyton knowing that Peyton is not a slam dunk," Feige said. "He's not just, 'Oh, a movie, I'll take it'. He had to be convinced that the big bad studio hadn't squashed the filmmaker, that we were doing what was right for the movie. He read all the previous drafts and everything that had been created and is elevating it, and really having a clear vision of his own to bring this to life. The cast is incredibly engaged and we're starting on August 18."

Expect more from Feige on Ant-Man and the rest of Marvel's upcoming slate at Comic Con International: San Diego later this week.