Part of the reason Marvel movies work so well is that their visual effects are so seamless
that we can rarely tell the difference between the parts of a scene that are real, and those
that have been digitally enhanced.
But looking at the behind-the-scenes action for each movie, it becomes clear just how
differently the MCU might look if not for the talented artists who turn each shot into
stunning and impossible action fare.
Here's a look at how some of your favorite Marvel movies would have looked without the
magic of special effects.
Iron Man
The hero that started it all is Tony Stark, our favorite genius billionaire slacker who
turned himself into the title hero by way of some supreme gadgetry.
Robert Downey Jr. might've been seen as a risky choice for a leading man spot, but he
slipped into the role of Iron Man like he'd been playing it all his life.
But even though it was Downey's swagger that sustained his performance, the character would've
been nothing but grey jumpsuits and green screen if it weren't for a team of VFX artists
from Industrial Light and Magic.
Director Jon Favreau wasn't a fan of CGI, and tried to build physical suits whenever
possible, but an enhancement in technology allowed for those computer-generated versions
to look incredibly realistic.
Ultimately, he met his goal perfectly:
"To mix up the visual effects with practical effects in a way where you start to forget
where one begins and the other ends."
Captain America: The First Avenger
The fifth MCU entry marked Chris Evans' debut as Steve Rogers, a scrawny New Yorker who
becomes an all-American super soldier after agreeing to take part in a military experiment.
Evans got jacked for the role, though his bulky frame meant that filming the scenes
that took place before he becomes Captain America were very tricky.
The visual effects department were able to shrink Evans' actual body for some shots,
but they also used a body double: actor Leander Deeny.
"And the goal was to make the audience fall in love with the character before he gets
any muscles, before he puts on the costume, before he holds the shield."
Visual effects supervisor Edson Williams of Lola Visual Effects took charge of putting
Evans' face on Leander's body.
And although his double was diligent about mimicking Evans' body language as best he
could, the company still had their work cut out.
Williams told The Wrap:
"The head replacements were tricky, because you were taking the head of a rhinoceros and
putting it on the body of a gazelle."
And while the end result wasn't perfect, it certainly worked to showcase the Cap's epic
transformation.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Though there were a ton of aerial shots to grapple with in The Winter Soldier, the main
challenge for Lola Visual Effects was making Cap's sweetheart Peggy Carter an old lady.
Elderly lookalikes were brought in and prosthetic makeup was tested, though the results weren't
quite what they were looking for, so they improvised by digitally projecting the skin
of an elderly actress directly onto Hayley Atwell's face.
Williams took still frames of the elder woman's skin and added them to the original photography
of Hayley Atwell in the role, and the results were spectacular.
Guardians of the Galaxy
The VFX team behind Marvel's nostalgic space opera Guardians of the Galaxy received Oscar
nominations for their hard work, which most notably included the creation of two fully
computer-generated characters in Rocket Raccoon and Groot.
While Rocket was voiced by Bradley Cooper, the actor did not do any of the motion capture.
That job instead went to director James Gunn's brother, Sean.
Gunn explained that he used his sibling on set because he was able to work under conditions
that most actors would struggle with.
Combining his limber maneuvers with the digital prowess of the VFX team, the two characters
not only worked, but won the hearts of just about every Marvel fan.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
To create a compelling villain for the second Avengers film, James Spader was zipped into
a motion capture suit and given the freedom to breathe some life into Ultron, the marauding
robot in the Avengers' second group outing.
Spader's performance was so compelling that it inspired the VFX team to make tweaks to
their design.
Industrial Light and Magic's Ben Snow told Art of VFX:
"The main challenge was getting the subtleties and character of James Spader's on-set Ultron
performance onto a character whose face and body are made up of rigid pieces of metal—the
face alone had 600 nodes of rigging."
The fact that the robot turned out to be one of the most nuanced characters of the whole
movie meant that all this effort was not in vain.
Ant-Man
Surprisingly, Ant-Man didn't rely on CGI quite as much as some other Marvel movies.
But with over 1,600 visual effects shots, it was still a huge undertaking.
The trickiest part wasn't creating photo-real macro scale landscapes for Scott Lang to scurry
around on.
According to visual effects supervisor Jake Morrison, it was the split second in which
he shrinks that caused the most headache for the behind-the-scenes artists.
Director Peyton Reed watched films like The Incredible Shrinking Man and Honey, I Shrunk
the Kids for inspiration in the hopes of creating a "definitive shrinking movie."
He was more than happy with the results.
Doctor Strange
French-Canadian VFX artist Stephane Ceretti received his second Oscar nomination for the
mind-blowing effects in Doctor Strange, which marked Benedict Cumberbatch's debut as the
title mage.
Ceretti turned to Christopher Nolan's blockbuster Inception for guidance, but was also inspired
by the work of graphic artist M.C.
Escher and the psychedelic Strange Tales comics from Steve Ditko's time at Marvel.
Approximately 1,450 visual effects shots had to be rendered over six months.
Ceretti said:
"The biggest challenge was to bring magic to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a fresh
and innovative way."
Ceretti must have enjoyed the challenge because he went on to supervise the visual effects
for Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Thor: Ragnarok
The third Thor installment surpassed box office expectations and arrived as a funny and fan-favorite
installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Like many of its predecessors, though, the film featured an overwhelming amount of digital
superhero action.
According to VFX supervisor Jake Morrison, there were almost 2,700 digitally enhanced
shots in the movie.
He told Art of VFX:
"I believe about 98 percent of the film passed through the visual effects department's hands."
From Korg the rock man…
"Allow me introduce myself.
My name is Korg, I'm kind of like the leader in here."
...to the Hulk's championship bout to Thor's lightning power…
"Wow!
Wow, I didn't hear any thunder, but out of your fingers, was that like, sparkles?"
...the computer-generated images were intense.
But the movie was all the better for it in the end.
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