Marvel managed to score big this year at the Emmy’s with a combined 28 nominations from its two new Disney+ series WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. WandaVision dominated with 23 nominations including nods for Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, and Kathryn Hahn in their respective acting categories, while The Falcon and the Winter Soldier also impressively picked up 5.
As with most Marvel productions, the category both shows are most likely to succeed in is Special Effects, just like previous movies have been nominated for VFX awards at the Oscars. That being said, there are plenty of shows around that also have impressive visuals, for example, The Mandalorian and The Boys, so how will these Marvel projects stand out from the crowd?
10 WandaVision: That Classic Kitchen Scene Must Have Taken Ages To Perfect
The first episode of WandaVision came as a surprise to many fans. Who would have thought that a Marvel superhero would be starring in a black and white sitcom? And as the episode progressed, things somehow managed to just get crazier and crazier. The final scene culminated in Wanda trying to make dinner for Mr. and Mrs. Hart, where of course, it got crazy.
From flying saucepans, utensils to ingredients, the kitchen headed to chaos. In fact, the effects team had to use stunts and wires to add the floating objects around the room just like they would have back in that sitcom era, then digitally remove the wires for the final cut.
9 The Falcon & the Winter Soldier: Those Action-Packed Aerial Battles Took A Toll
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier didn’t feature any fully CGI aliens or creatures and may not have seemed as VFX-heavy as other Marvel projects like Doctor Strange or the Avengers movies. However, the CGI required to pull off the epic aerial battle scenes and make sure there is still a sense of realism in them is pretty immense.
From the very opening scene where the Falcon is seen battling Batroc the Leaper and jumping from helicopter to helicopter on his pursuit. Another came in the series where Sam Wilson, now assuming the mantle of Captain America, there’s yet another helicopter battle, which of course would have required a lot of CGI especially being set in New York.
8 WandaVision: The Abundance Of Different Sitcom Backgrounds
WandaVision stood out from the crowd thanks to the incredibly weird but wonderful storyline filled with alternate realities created by the show’s protagonist, Wanda, all of which were based on different sitcoms from different genres. From sitcoms like Bewitched, Modern Family, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and many more, designing all these backdrops must have been a real challenge.
Marvel, as Marvel usually does, pulled it off to perfection. The show looked great in each episode, no matter the sitcom inspiration, but instead of using a backdrop, most of the frames were composed using CGI, almost entirely, showing just how good a job they really did.
7 The Falcon & the Winter Soldier: That New Captain America Suit Was Absolutely Beautiful
A big part of this new Disney+ show was the mantle of Captain America, and more particularly, the journey taken by Sam Wilson to realize he is worthy of the role given to him by Steve Rogers at the end of Avengers: Endgame. After giving the shield up, fighting the new Government-appointed Captain America, John Walker, Sam finally comes to terms and picks up the shield.
This leads to an epic introduction of Sam as Captain America and with it came a brand new suit, which almost all fans thought was absolutely beautiful. But, to make it look so good, the suit was almost entirely reliant on digital intervention, and fans are so glad that it turned out to look amazing.
6 WandaVision: Creating Paul Bettany’s Vision Also Took A Lot Of Work
Unlike most of the human characters in the MCU, Vision, being part android, takes a lot more effort when showing up on the screen. Of course, Bettany still acts out and puts on the costume, but there’s a lot of work done that may go unnoticed. One perfect example is the casual morphing between android and human that Vision repeatedly does on the show.
Simple things like Vision’s eyelashes, his cape, and the mind stone on his forehead always take a lot of CGI, but more specifically to the show, creating Vision in black and white proved even more difficult. The scenes were shot in color and turned to black and white afterward in post-production, so Bettany’s face was actually covered in blue makeup and small white dots, known as tracking markers.
5 The Falcon & the Winter Soldier: Super Soldiers Require More CGI Than You Might Think
One aspect of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier that may have caused some VFX complications was the heavy use of enhanced individuals in the series. Of course, Bucky Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier, starred in every episode, but other characters were also introduced in the series, like the Flag-Smashers, who all used the super-soldier serum, and Wyatt Russell’s John Walker, who takes the serum later on during the show.
Thanks to their enhancements, the soldiers all have enhanced speed, strength, and overall physical ability, this means that scenes with fights, or simpler things like running, had to use CGI to include their superhuman enhancements.
4 WandaVision: Wanda & Agatha’s Magic Looked Great Thanks To The Epic CGI
The epic finale of WandaVision culminated in Wanda and Agatha having a massive magic-off, with both of them showing off their immense powers and abilities. Not only was it action-packed, but the battle scenes were filled with beautiful cinematography, especially with their spells.
From casting mind-control spells to filling the entire sky with enchantments in Scarlet Witch’s signature red color, the final battle was quite literally spell-binding to the eye and deserves an Emmy nomination on their own, and that’s forgetting all the other CGI used throughout the show, especially with all the alternate reality plotlines.
3 The Falcon & the Winter Soldier: It Wasn’t Just The New Captain America Suit That Needed CGI, The Shield Does Too
One of the most powerful, yet simple weapons in the entire MCU is the famous red, white, and blue vibranium shield. Not only is it an incredibly useful weapon, but it also comes with a lot of symbolism.
Seeing as it had such an important role, the shield was in most scenes, and more particularly, most action scenes. But, the set couldn’t have a metal shield flying around everywhere, so most of the time the shield was completely CGI, or at least edited afterward to help make its rebounds more realistic.
2 WandaVision: Those Aerial Views Of Westview Were Mightily Impressive
Without the use of drones or B-roll footage from a helicopter, getting those epic looks at Westview, the town mind-controlled by Wanda to create her new sitcom realities, had to rely entirely on CGI to be completed. That’s right with only a layout of the town available, the team at Marvel managed to make a completely CGI town from scratch.
This was used in the final battle scene, and in the Halloween episode, where Vision flies above the town and notices Agnes completely still and almost stuck in her car. This specific scene also used CGI to build the town behind Agnes, with the cast simply working in front of a green screen.
1 The Falcon & the Winter Soldier: The Moving Vehicle Scenes Also Needed A Lot Of Time To Look As Good As They Did
Being the espionage thriller that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was, the show obviously had to include some impressive ground-level action and combat scenes to help the show stand out among the crazier interstellar projects previously seen, for example, Guardians of the Galaxy.
This meant scenes where the characters were fighting on moving vehicles become a highlight of the series. One example was the truck chase where Bucky and Sam confront Karli about the crates full of vaccines. In fact, this had to be done using complete CGI, apart from Karli, who was live-action. That goes for the interior of the truck which had to be made completely by scratch. Pretty impressive stuff.
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