Marvel Reportedly Eyeing Adam McKay to Direct an Upcoming Film

Anchorman director Adam McKay came pretty close to directing Ant-Man before Marvel brought Peyton Reed in to replace Edgar Wright. While McKay’s scheduling conflicts wouldn’t allow for the director to direct for the studio last year, he still lent a helping hand, working with Paul Rudd to spruce up the screenplay a bit. Apparently McKay made something of an impression on Marvel — rumor has it they’re eyeing him to direct an upcoming project.

According to a report over at Latino Review, Marvel has McKay in mind to direct one of their many upcoming films, but just which one might he take? Joe and Anthony Russo are directing Captain America: Civil War, as well as both parts of Avengers: Infinity War. James Gunn has Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Scott Derrickson is on Doctor Strange, and Drew Goddard will reportedly direct the new Spider-Man movie for Sony and Marvel.

So what does that leave us with? Well, we’ve got Thor: Ragnarok, which doesn’t really seem like a McKay project — if Marvel continues with the sci-fi weirdness established in Thor: The Dark World, anyway. On the other hand, Thor is the kind of property that could always use a humorous touch.

There’s also Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and The Inhumans. I imagine Marvel wants someone more versed in sci-fi for The Inhumans (someone please call Alex Garland), while I personally think the studio would do well to hire a woman for Captain Marvel, especially after dumping Patty Jenkins from Thor: The Dark World. It’s also likely that Marvel would want a person of color to direct Black Panther (Ava DuVernay, Marvel — make it happen).

It’s hard to speculate, but the safest bet appears to be Thor: Ragnarok. Either way, it should be fun to see McKay immerse himself in the Marvel Universe. In the meantime, McKay is writing and directing The Big Short, featuring a cast of men heroically handsome leading men: Bradley Cooper, Ryan Gosling and Christian Bale.