New report reveals why Marvel's special effects constantly vary in quality

Anyone who has seen anything by Marvel Studios in recent years will have noticed how much the quality varies when it comes to special effects. Questions have therefore been raised as to how this can be so when the same studio is behind the works and in response a report has now been published on the subject. The Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU, is in its fourteenth year of operation and of course a lot has happened since Iron Man was released in 2008.

The productions are now much bigger and they are also reaching a lot more people. That means budgets are higher but there are also more people judging the results and for all the success the studio has had over the years, criticism has been flying around about how many films and comics look flat and dull. A recent example is She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. When the first trailer was released a few months ago, fans were not gracious and here's how the buzz went at the time:

"She-Hulk as a show looks amazingly fun but the actual CGI looks really unfinished and rubbery. I'm aware it is TV but the Star Wars stuff manages and they have the budgets to adjust."

"The She-Hulk trailer is fun and my gosh I love Tatiana Maslany (she'll *crush* it in this role) but her post-transformation CGI looks godawful."

"I actually like the tone of She-Hulk. It feels fun. And Maslany is hella talented, that shows. But my lord you have Gamora. You could've used practical effects on her face and body. They literally have the resources. Maslany too talented to be hidden in that CGI nonsense."

But this goes back further than that. Black Panther has some really dicey moments and no one can forget Bruce Banner's floating head in the Hulkbuster suit, this in a film that otherwise offered several impressive effects. But that's also exactly the problem, the unevenness. Of course, many fans had also compared it to Avengers: Endgame, where the effects themselves were brilliant throughout the film. It seemed odd then that the same studio years later would release something that looked like it did in She Hulk: Attorney at Law, although bear in mind that the series wasn't finished yet but the difference was so marked that it demanded a response.

In a report from Gizmodo, created from interviews with various special effects project managers, all of whom have worked for Marvel, we get at least a little closer to an explanation. They point to the studio's indecisiveness as the primary reason why it looks the way it does, quality-wise. Because the various creative teams tend to bounce back and forth between options, constantly making last-minute decisions, those working on the effects are forced to rush certain scenes, which in turn results in a rushed piece of work. Here's an excerpt from the report:

"The erratic direction of Marvel movies leads to erratic results. That's why you see incredibly sharp and realistic VFX work in one scene, and then two minutes later, the VFX work looks choppy and rushed. Because in a lot of cases, it is. All the VFX studios that Marvel hires are capable of producing incredible work, but very few are given the opportunity to do so because of the way that Marvel directs the vendors.

At this point, Marvel uses so much VFX in their films that all Marvel films could be considered animated films. Disney and its subsidiaries, which includes Marvel, probably account for about half of the VFX work that's being commissioned right now. So if VFX studios want to stay in business, they need to keep Marvel happy."

Despite Marvel's penchant for creating long-term stories, they actually tend to be quite lenient in their creative decision-making within a specific project, thus welcoming ideas from both actors and film crew. It's a way of working that was established in the original Iron Man movie, which was filmed without a finished script and thus featured plenty of improvisation. Later, the death of Iron Man was filmed in Avengers: Endgame, just three months before the film's release, because a new and better idea came up during postproduction. This creative freedom and flexibility is one of the reasons why many filmmakers enjoy working with Marvel Studios. However, it is clear from the aforementioned report that there are two sides to the same coin, as indecision and constant script changes force those responsible for the special effects to work harder and to extremely tight deadlines.

As criticism blows up and the complexity of the films and series increases, Marvel will have to somehow ensure quality and continue as it has with last-minute changes. As The Multiverse Saga continues, more people are needed in areas than ever before and putting even more time pressure on an already depleted film industry could result in an even greater drop in quality. Because it has to be said, this is not unique to Marvel, all major film companies have this problem. However, Marvel Studios is such a large, popular and influential player that it could set a good example here and show others that it is possible to make realistic demands on its employees and at the same time improve quality.

Find the full report here!