Back when Edgar Wright parted ways with Marvel, Adam McKay was in the running to replace him as the director of Ant-Man. Although the job ultimately went to Peyton Reed, McKay worked on the screenplay and there have been talks of the director possibly taking on a superhero movie of his very own. That time is now, as McKay has finally signed on to helm a comic book adaptation…just not for Marvel.

Deadline reports that McKay is set to direct a superhero flick for 20th Century Fox, and no, it’s not an X-Men movie, either. The director of The Big Short and Anchorman will helm a big screen adaptation of Irredeemable, the BOOM! Studios comic by Mark Waid and Peter Krause. The original story centers on The Plutonian, a superhero who was loved the world over until he snapped and began murdering everyone who didn’t quite see things his way. His estranged colleagues form a group known as the Paradigm in order to subdue their former super-friend — with a little help from a powerful super-villain.

McKay will direct from a screenplay by Tommy Wirkola, the writer and director of Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. That’s an interesting talent combo, but what makes this news particularly exciting is the prospect of McKay bringing a new superhero story to the big screen instead of working with well-known characters in an established cinematic universe.

In addition to Irredeemable, McKay is also returning to Marvel to help out with the screenplay for Ant-Man and the Wasp, which hits theaters in 2018.

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