Kevin Feige, the uber-architect of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, answered some intriguing and pointed questions about Edgar Wright's Ant-Man, which is slated to debut on July 17th, 2015 (see "Disney Moves 'Ant-Man' Into Vacated 'Batman/Superman' Spot”).  Since Wright’s Ant-Man has been in development from the earliest days of the MCU (see "Marvel Gets Financing, Changes Name"), Empire Magazine asked Feige if the project had changed, given the number of Marvel movies that have proceeded it to the big screen: "A little bit.  Not much.  There's been a little bit of connective tissue that wouldn't have been there in in his draft ten years ago.  We changed, frankly some of the MCU to accommodate this version of Ant-Man.  Knowing what we wanted to do with Edgar and with Ant-Man, going years and years back, helped to dictate what we did with the roster for Avengers the first time. It was a bit of both in terms of his idea for the Ant-Man story influencing the birth of the MCU in the early films leading up to Avengers."
 
Asked why Hank Pym, who created Ultron in the Marvel comic book continuity, is not in The Avengers: The Age of Ultron, Feige replied: "It was two things--a story Edgar wanted to tell that we'll see with Michael Douglas and Paul Rudd, and now we're 11 films in, it's looking at the characters we've already introduced who already have the technology and the brains to do... certain things."  Does this mean that in the MCU it could be Tony Stark, not Hank Pym, who is responsible for Ultron?
 
Feige also explained why Paul Rudd (see "Paul Rudd as Ant-Man") was chosen for Wright’s Ant-Man film: "Look at that origin of the petty crook who comes into contact with a suit and does his best to make good, and then look at someone like Paul Rudd, who can do slightly unsavoury things like break into people's houses and still be charming and who you root for and whose redemption you will find satisfaction in."