Edgar Wright Explains Why Ultron Was Never a Part of the ‘Ant-Man’ Movie

In Marvel comics canon, the villainous robot Ultron is the creation of scientist/superhero Hank Pym (AKA, Ant-Man). So many fans raised an eyebrow when it was revealed that 'Avengers: Age of Ultron would see the team facing down the villain months before Edgar Wright's 'Ant-Man' arrived in theaters (and, that Ant-Man wouldn't be a part of 'Avengers 2'). However, there's a very simple reason why Ultron is making his first cinematic appearance in 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' and not 'Ant-Man' -- Wright never intended for Pym's nemesis to be in the film in the first place.

Wright dropped this tidbit while speaking with Mike Ryan over at The Huffington Post. While the main subject of the interview was the upcoming 'The World's End,' a few questions were dedicated to the 'Shaun of the Dead' director's foray into the Marvel Universe. Naturally, the subject of Ultron was broached and Wright had this to say:

It was never in my script. Because even just to sort of set up what Ant-Man does is enough for one movie. It's why I think 'Iron Man' is extremely successful because it keeps it really simple. You have one sort of -- the villain comes from the hero's technology. It's simple. So I think why that film really works and why, sometimes, superhero films fail -- or they have mixed results -- because they have to set up a hero and a villain at the same time. And that's really tough. And sometimes it's unbalanced.

Wright goes on to use Tim Burton's 'Batman' as key example, citing how Jack Nicholson's Joker completely stole the film from the superhero whose name is the title of the movie. And even then, that film had the benefit of dealing with more well-known characters. An 'Ant-Man' movie is already an uphill battle and trying to throw a villain like Ultron into the mix could very well be a case of too much, too soon. Like with the original 'Iron Man,' this is a case where learning to walk before breaking into a run sounds like a good plan.

Of course, this brings up additional nerdy questions, like, "If Hank Pym doesn't create Ultron in the Marvel movies, where does he come from?" Fans have already begun speculating that Tony Stark is Ultron's creator in the cinematic universe (maybe he's a corrupted version of the Jarvis A.I.?), which would make sense and ensure that Robert Downey Jr. gets to play a juicy part in the film.

For additional details (including how Wright plans to bring the undefined character of Pym to the screen), check out the link above. 'The Avengers: Age of Ultron' opens on May 1, 2015 and 'Ant-Man' is slated for November 6, 2015.