During a recent interview with Starburst Magazine, the Hydraulx special effects supervisor behind Skyline, last year's Captain America and Battle: Los Angeles flicks, as well the X-Men movies, Chris Wells, dished on his company's most recent project; Marvel's Joss Whedon-directed superhero spectacle The Avengers. Working on the much-anticipated film's opening sequence specifically, check out what he says!
"We're doing what essentially boils down to the prelude of the movie,'" he said. "'There's a whole intro that happens before you start even getting the titles and it's pretty big. There's nothing small in this movie. I went to a screening with all the temporary visual effects and it was pretty fleshed out. It's a long movie but it doesn't feel like it. Out of all the comic book movies and franchises I've worked on, this is the best one I've seen so far.'"
After being asked whether the movie is more action-driven, rather than character-oriented, Wells replied:
"'I think they nailed both,' he said.
'Joss and I have worked on some projects before and he does a very good job with characters. Since this is the first time that we see these guys together as a unit, he had to address all their personal dealings with one another. I think he did a very good job of setting up the characters based on what we know from the Marvel franchise, integrating them together with all their differences and similarities and then getting on with business. And just when you think the movie is a character piece it just goes nuts.'"
Surely avoiding spoilers, especially those depicting the film's secondary villains, only confirming that the Red Skull does NOT appear, and adding
there's enough bad guys to go around,' Wells says concludes:
"'I promise you it's not going to be boring,'" he said.
"'This thing has gone so big that Marvel are dwarfing their other franchises. For people who enjoy the comics and haven't really liked the way some of the characters were treated in other movies, I think they're going to be a little more appeased by this one. Especially the Hulk. They let the Hulk be Hulk and that's great. He acts more like the comic book Hulk. It's fun. My biggest problem with every single superhero movie is I don't think the payoff ever matches the build up. This one definitely does.'"
Chris Wells was surely not the only one who've caught a pre-screening of the film. I've been alerted so by two reliable sources, both essentially declaring the film a "must see!"
Marvel Studios presents in association with Paramount Pictures “Marvel’s The Avengers”--the super hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel super heroes Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins.
Starring Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, & directed by Joss Whedon from a screenplay by Joss Whedon, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when “Marvel’s The Avengers” assemble on May 4, 2012. The film is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. In addition to "Marvel's The Avengers," Marvel Studios will release a slate of films based on the Marvel characters including "Iron Man 3" on May 3, 2013!; and “Thor 2” on November 15, 2013.