How long in the making was this week’s exclusive, first-look cover image of Paul Rudd as Ant-Man? Well, that depends how you look at it. While the shrinking, and insect-controlling, hero of Marvel’s Ant-Man (out. July 17) may not be as famous as The Hulk or Thor, he made his comics debut way back in 1962 and a year later co-founded The Avengers with those two aforementioned gents. Back in 2001, the movie’s original director, Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead), and fellow Brit Joe Cornish first wrote a treatment for an Ant-Man movie, which means the project long predates the hugely successful Marvel movie universe ushered in by 2008’s Iron Man. Wright remained enthusiastic about the project down the years, telling EW in 2013, “I’d rather do the film with 2015 effects rather than 2005 effects. So it’s all good.” Then, it wasn’t. In May of 2014, Wright unexpectedly exited the project, prompting a blood pressure-raising search by Marvel for a new director which ultimately led them to Bring It On filmmaker Peyton Reed, the man who ultimately welcomed EW to the Ant-Man set outside Atlanta last fall.