Long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe or ‘Iron Man’ was even a thing, Edgar Wright had a plan to bring ‘Ant-Man’ to the big screen. Thanks to Marvel’s Phase Three, the director behind the Cornetto Trilogy finally gets the opportunity to bring his vision to life. While we’ve seen the test footage and learned who won’t be the villain, we don’t know much else about the upcoming film. But now, since the film is currently in pre-production, we’re likely to find out more details soon. And according to the filmmaker, we should all be pretty surprised by what we get.

While speaking with Entertainment Tonight, Wright opened up about the 2015 film featuring the size-shifting scientist. In the interview, he talked about what he’s shooting for with the movie and how he hopes the audience will react to it:

“I want to make him into a badass [laughs]. No, I always liked that comic and I always thought it would be an interesting thing to see in live-action. That’s why I [showed] that Comic-Con test that we did for Marvel, to show this fight scene like a proof of content, like this is what the action is going to look like. I think a lot of people who maybe don’t know the character sort of see that test and go, ‘Oh, right, I get it. It’s like an action film,’ so that’s the idea. I think people will be surprised by what kind of movie it is, and so in that respect it’s something that I know is going to stand out because it’s got a very different story and is a very different movie.”

But as different as ‘Ant-Man’ is lining up to be, it still holds a few familiar aspects that fans of the director and the studio will recognize. Since this is an Edgar Wright production, one has to assume that it will be funny. Even his more serious projects with a message manage to be delivered with a side of laughs. Luckily, that falls right in line with the rest of Marvel Studios’ films, so he doesn’t plan on shying away from any of that:

“Well, I think the Marvel movies are funny, you know? I think generally the ‘Iron Man’ films and ‘The Avengers’ is funny. They’re not ever in the comedy section, but they are funny and entertaining, so I think it’ll be something in a similar vein to that.”

What do you think about Edgar Wright’s comments on his approach to ‘Ant-Man’? Do you think that fans will be surprised by his depiction of the character? How surprised do you think non-fans will be when the hero inevitably turns out to be a badass? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

‘Ant-Man’ is scheduled for a theatrical release on July 31, 2015.