It’s not exactly breaking news that a major superhero movie like Avengers: Endgame would use a lot of CGI. But VFX magic is used for more than just the obvious things, like transforming Mark Ruffalo into the Hulk. Sometimes it’s even used for hair. (And mustaches. But that’s a different story.) Marvel fans were apparently taken aback by a couple of examples of computer-generated technology used in Avengers 4.
One fan on Twitter highlighted two examples from one of the movie’s behind-the-scenes making-of featurettes. The images showed both Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) being transformed through the visual effects process.
Fans had stronger (and funnier) reactions to the CGI shots than I would’ve expected, and they disagreed on the necessity for what was done to both Captains. Here’s one conversation from the Twitter replies:
Other fans tried to explain what was happening and why the Russo Brothers and VFX team would’ve needed CGI here:
There were also discussions about what “space hair” really looks like vs. a cinematic example:
Here are more reactions, because I found the response to the CGI more interesting than the visual effects work itself:
Of course, since we’re talking about CGI in a superhero movie, someone had to do it:
It’s interesting that even in late 2019 fans can still be surprised by what goes into the superhero sausage. You don’t even need to be making what would become the highest-grossing movie of all time to use visual effects to help tell the story.
But what do you think? How much CGI is too much — just when it’s obvious to the viewer in the theater, or when you can think of more practical ways the filmmakers could have conceivably gotten a shot? Does CGI bother you at all or do you not care? If you don’t care, are you just here for the comments and/or to tell everyone they are stupid? Go ahead and own it.