It’s commonly said that audiences never even notice the best CGI. Sure, in huge sequences with fantastical monsters you know that what you’re watching was never on set, but there’s also a lot of minor stuff in movies that completely passes by viewers. A great example is the insanely realistic CGI in Logan that went by unnoticed by pretty much everyone.
Now, with numerous effects breakdowns of Avengers: Endgame online after the film’s home release, people have been stunned by what was secretly CGI. Just take a look below for what’s going down over on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/stvethors/status/1166124419527467014?s=20
Still Better Looking than this pic.twitter.com/V2bn6fQuGd
— Rclarke115 (@Rclarke1159) August 27, 2019
https://twitter.com/AndyHypster/status/1166322600827609089
Wtf even her hair, that's why she changes her hair length in every scene ejdje and Cap's helmet… What is wrong with Marvel.
— tuğberk (@Dante_XE) August 27, 2019
Yall are pissed at the CGI as if Marvel made you pay for it or something 😂 it it weren't for these bts shots, you wouldn't even notice
— Kishan ⍟ The Bad Batch Era (@kenobisaurus) August 28, 2019
As you can see, when Captain Marvel was floating in space just before the Avengers hunt down Thanos at his farm, her hair was entirely CGI. The argument for this is that it’s difficult to make real hair look like it’s floating in zero gravity and, as in Aquaman‘s underwater sequences, they decided they’d get more control over the final look this way.
Another surprising addition is that in the scene with the two Captain Americas, the cowl has been digitally inserted. The reasoning for this is that Avengers: Endgame test audiences couldn’t tell the difference between the two characters (the initial idea was to have a cut on one’s cheek). The solution was to make them look different by popping The Avengers cowl back on. This also reminded us how rubbish that costume was though, which cranked up the comedy.
While CGI-ing in costume elements may seem extravagant, it’s definitely cheaper than getting the actors back on set for reshoots, so it makes sense from a budget point of view. However, peeking behind the curtain and realizing that almost everything you’re seeing on screen has been digitally manipulated in some way can be a disconcerting experience – as proven by the comments of many surprised Avengers: Endgame fans who believe that this is “completely unnecessary.”
Personally, I think it’s actually really clever and a testament to the VFX artists that they can pull off these shots so flawlessly. But that’s just me.