The next couple of years will see Marvel and Disney alternating between sequels and movies that introduce comic book characters to the big screen for the first time. This year we're getting Captain America: The Winter Soldier followed by Guardians of the Galaxy, and 2015 will bring The Avengers: Age of Ultron right at the beginning of May and Edgar Wright's Ant-Man just a couple of months later.

It's an exciting time for fans of the characters, but these projects also represent a greater risk at the box office since the average moviegoer probably won't be familiar with the source material. Luckily, Ant-Man has already found two strong leads in Michael Douglas and Paul Rudd, who will play Hank Pym and Scott Lang, respectively.

Now Edgar Wright has announced on his blog and Twitter that he's reuniting with two old friends for Ant-Man: Bill Pope, the director of photography for both The World's End and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, is onboard as cinematographer and Steven Price, who last week won a BAFTA for his work on Gravity, will compose the score. Price also worked on the same Wright films as Pope, and has been nominated for an Academy Award this year.

Based on the recent entries in his blog and social media, is pretty clear that Wright is solidly immersed on the research and planning stages of pre-production. It's worth checking in regularly to see the tidbits he drops, including exquisitely-drawn storyboards and Ant-Man figurines. Casting is also ongoing, with Evangeline Lilly (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug) currently in early talks to play the female lead and Michael Pena (End of Watch) reportedly also offered a role.

Each of the Marvel movies has its own particular flavor and since the very earliest days of development Ant-Man has been described as a heist movie, leading many fans to speculate that the plot will focus on Scott Lang stealing the Pym particle technology from Hank Pym and using it to commit even more crime.

Knowing Wright's style, the tone of Ant-Man will probably lean more towards fun and humor than doom and gloom, but he's also a skilled action movie director. More importantly, he's a massive geek.

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Ant-Man will be in theaters on July 31, 2015.

Source: Edgar Wright