by One of the minds behind the MCU epic, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, explained how the CGI and visual effects on the movie were created as the release date of February 17 draws near.
Ant-Man 3’s journey into the Quantum Realm forced the MCU threequel to rely heavily on computer-generated aspects, which has drawn criticism from fans.
Following the release of the most recent Quantumania trailer, Twitter was soon inundated with criticisms of the film’s appearance. These complaints ranged from generalisations like “it looks ugly ” to more specific criticisms like “the performers look out of place with strange lighting on bright backgrounds.”
Despite this, Marvel Studios hasn’t held back when discussing the visual effects work that went into the impending threequel.
A Closer Look at the CGI in Ant-Man
Will Htay revealed how the forthcoming movie’s CGI works.
Htay stated that although the Quantumania team did not want the Quantum Realm’s setting to “be too CG-heavy,” they eventually realised “[they’d have to rely] on VFX and CGI“
“When [director] Peyton Reed came to me we started talking about the Quantum Realm being this vast epic, world within worlds, he wanted it to feel like it was huge. What we didn’t want it to be was macro photography, we didn’t want it to be too CG-heavy. Even though we knew we’d be relying on VFX and CGI ultimately.”
Despite this, the objective was to “try and make [everything] as real and tangible [as possible]“:
“But what we wanted to do is try and make it as real and tangible in places as possible. So that when we go down there with our protagonist we can feel it and touch it and smell it and that we want it to feel like it is this real place that’s hidden beneath the Multiverse.”
Director Peyton Reed and the rest of the creative team had to create a whole new world and all the features that make it unique for the impending blockbuster, according to Stephen Broussard, VP of Production & Development at Marvel Studios:
“At every angle we’ve asked ourselves what’s the Quantum Realm version of this? What’s the Quantum Realm version of aliens? What does technology look like down here? What does society look like down here, what does religion and politics?”
Evangeline Lilly, who plays the Wasp, previewed this mostly CGI universe in the same interview, joking about “vicious suns that can eat you” and “water dripping upward instead of downward:”
“Vicious suns that can eat you, blobs that can morph, broccolis that can fight in battles, buildings that are part of a freedom fighter brigade. You look across the landscape and [don’t] see anything you would expect to see on planet Earth. Things like gravity functions differently so you have water dripping upward instead of downward, and you have clouds that don’t move in any way that resembles our reality.”
Lilly called the entire project “as silly and fun as it will be sweeping and epic and beautiful:”
“It’s going to be as silly and fun as it will be sweeping and epic and beautiful. It’s going to be very elegant and very graceful.”
What Does the Quantum Realm Hold?
While Quantumania must define a totally new universe while presenting an engaging story with its titular hero, previous MCU films have had the luxury of having most of their action take place on Earth.
Although it’s a challenging undertaking, Marvel is experienced in it. The titan of Hollywood has created distinctive – and VFX-heavy – realms like Asgard, Wakanda, or the entire cosmos numerous times.
And yes, some of the criticism about CGI might be justified. Ever since information about the circumstances VFX houses had to operate in on an MCU film surfaced, Marvel Studios has been the subject of intense scrutiny.
Therefore, the audience is scrutinising every frame of these Marvel Studios projects today more than ever before. Marvel appears to be actively attempting to solve a visual effects issue that has little to do with what ends up on screen.
The Quantum Realm’s visual quality will be left to the discretion of the audience, but it is important to remember the battle taking on behind the scenes between Marvel and the effects teams they so heavily rely upon.
On February 17, the motion picture Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania will be released.
