Captain America: Brave New World's reshoots remain a subject of great interest and debate among fans. However, as easy as it is to criticise Marvel Studios for dropping the ball on what will now be a movie that ranks among its lowest-grossing titles, there must be a reason Kevin Feige felt it needed such a drastic reworking.
A new behind-the-scenes photo from the movie has surfaced today showcasing the movie's original design for The Leader. The complete opposite of what we got in the movie itself, it appears to be a stand-in used on set or perhaps just an early prototype created before the makeup and prosthetics were applied to Tim Blake Nelson.
Regarldess, we have to imagine there are some shots of the actor looking like this somewhere out there that have yet to be revealed.
The Leader's appearance changed significantly during additional photography, something that was originally confirmed by promo art and an officially released Funko Pop.
In the process, the comic-accurate large head you see below was swapped out for the sympathy-inducing deformed look we got in Captain America: Brave New World's final cut.
That means that all of the villain's scenes were reshot, no great surprise when he was originally portrayed as the creator of a superpowered Serpent Society and a master manipulator. Ultimately, we'll never know which version was better but there must be a reason Marvel Studios felt such a drastic overhaul was necessary.
In a post-release interview with Variety, Captain America: Brave New World director Julius Onah explained the character's new look by revealing, "When you think about the arc of his character and the humanity that’s been taken away from him, there’s a monstrosity to him, and I really wanted to lean into that, so the moment you see him, you understand what’s propelling him as a character and his desire for retribution."
"We started off with an entirely practical version of it. You still see a lot of that practical work, in terms of prosthetics and paint stuff of that sort. It was great for Tim, because he’s very immersive in terms of what he likes to do as a performer."
"And then when we put it together in the movie, I wanted to push it even further, to make sure that that jump could come [over] on screen," Onah contained. "So we did enhance with visual effects, just to push it to that edge of something that hopefully wasn’t too off-putting, but again, helped you understand emotionally what was driving him."
You can take a close look at Captain America: Brave New World's original take on The Leader below.
In Captain America: Brave New World, after meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, played by Harrison Ford in his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, Sam Wilson finds himself in the middle of an international incident. He must discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red.
The movie stars Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Xosha Roquemore, Carl Lumbly, with Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford. The movie is directed by Julius Onah and produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore. Louis D’Esposito and Charles Newirth serve as executive producers.
"Flawed but functional, Captain America: Brave New World's many problems are largely forgotten any time Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford electrify the screen," we said in our review. "And when Red Hulk shows up, the movie reaches new heights of awesome."
Captain America: Brave New World is now playing in theaters.