Well, this is unfortunate news, but it’s being reported that Edgar Wright has vacated the director’s chair of Marvel’s Ant-Man. Marvel Studios and Wright released a statement explaining the reason for the departure, saying it was “due to differences in their vision of the film.” This move is not expected to impact the July 17, 2015 release date as Marvel is zeroing in on a replacement, though no negotiations are currently in place.

Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lilly are still expected to star alongside Corey Stoll, Michael Peña and Patrick Wilson. See the full statement from Marvel after the jump.

Here’s Marvel’s official word on Wright’s departure from Ant-Man:

Marvel and Edgar Wright jointly announced today that the studio and director have parted ways on ANT-MAN due to differences in their vision of the film. The decision to move on is amicable and does not impact the release date on July 17, 2015. A new director will be announced shortly.

This is a surprising and unfortunate turn of events as Wright wasn’t just the director on Ant-Man, but a co-writer on the script with Joe Cornish. Furthermore, his take on the story didn’t just set up the hero’s origin, but his initial ideas for the film a number of years ago helped to form Marvel’s approach to their cinematic universe, or so said Kevin Feige himself. Wright’s been working on this project off and on for years now, with our earliest mention of his attachment to the film going back almost five years. In fact, Wright’s involvement goes back to 2006, before Iron Man, before the Marvel we know today even existed.

I mention this because today’s news that the director and studio have suddenly parted ways over differences in vision makes very little sense. If Wright has been tweaking the script for years, and if his ideas for the hero helped to shape the way that Marvel approached its highly lucrative cinematic universe-building right down to the team members that would go on to form The Avengers, then how did it all go wrong at the last second? The cast was in place, his test footage has been circulating for some time now … it’s not as if Marvel didn’t know what they were getting with Wright. It’s all very confusing and disheartening for Wright fans, myself included. And while the cast and release date remains intact, it seems that Wright’s vision for the film is a casualty. It remains to be seen just what that means for the final film, due out next summer. Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments below.