Potential ‘ANT-MAN’ directors: ADAM MCKAY, RAWSON THURBER, RUBEN FLEISCHER

A shortlist of the directors that could replace Edgar Wright on Ant-Man has been revealed. And while there’s no replacing Wright, and it seems awkward that someone is going to be helming his brain baby, there are certainly worse directors than the ones revealed. (Better ones too, okay, granted.)

THR reports that Adam McKay, Ruben Fleischer and Rawson Thurber are among those meeting with Marvel about potentially directing “Ant-Man.” Let’s remember, whoever gets this job is really taking the ball and running with it (especially if Marvel is holding that summer 2015 release date), and they’ll basically need to put their head down, listen to instructions and crank it out. So let’s break these down a bit shall we?

From a comedic perspective, McKay seems like a good choice to capture the irreverent tone Wright and Cornish put on the page (even if now sanded down through rewrites) and he has shown he can handle big setpieces too (thanks to efforts like “The Other Guys“). That being said, McKay likes to improvise and keep things loose on set and there may not be enough time here for his approach with Marvel looking to put their head down and get this done.

Thurber, who is coming off last summer’s sleeper hit “We’re The Millers” and is the man who brought “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” to the world, also has show he can do funny. However, he doesn’t have the experience of big screen spectacles. And while Marvel usually provides an able, seasoned team around their newbie directors (see the Russo brothers and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier“), they may not have the luxury of time for that here.

Of the three, Fleischer makes the most sense. He’s done comedy and action together with ease (“Zombieland,” “30 Minutes Or Less“) and more crucially, he needs a comeback vehicle after the flop “Gangster Squad.” If any one of the three will focus and do what’s told of them, it’s Fleischer, and it could be bounce back he needs after two straight misses. [Play List]