Say what you will about Madame Web's story and cast, but the visual effects were undeniably impressive. Sony Pictures collaborated with Digital Domain on the Marvel movie and two newly released VFX reels highlight their work on the third act.
Those scenes featured Cassandra Webb along with Julia Cornwall, Mattie Franklin, and Anya Corazon on a mission to stop the villainous Ezekiel Sims after a series of ominous premonitions tied their fates together.
The fight played out in a warehouse and on a rooftop, with Cassie and her proteges ultimately outsmarting the baddie.
Digital Domain kindly shared the following with us regarding their work on those two key elements of Madame Web's final battle:
The Warehouse
In the film, Ezekiel has a premonition that shows his fate is met at the hands of the young women, and he makes it his mission to stop them before they acquire their powers. This leads the entire group on an action-packed journey, ending at an abandoned warehouse. To trap Ezekiel, the young women enter the warehouse and devise a plan to set off fireworks. This is where the team at Digital Domain stepped in. For this particular scene, the FX team was called on to create explosions and fire throughout the building as multiple fireworks erupt behind the soon-to-be superheroes as Ezekiel tries to attack them.
The Rooftop
The fight against Ezekiel commences on the rooftop of the abandoned warehouse. Shot on a small set in Boston surrounded by bluescreen, the artists at Digital Domain built the rooftop as an entire CG environment, extending the entire area and adding several FX works from fireworks to explosions. The Pepsi sign, which exists in New York, was also rebuilt digitally by the team at Digital Domain. To enhance the tension and excitement within the scene, production called on our post-visualization team to assist in developing the environment and FX throughout the sequence and establish how much smoke and fire would be needed, as well as the timing.
Digital Domain was also responsible for the helicopter explosion and the nightmare sequence that takes place in the middle of skyscrapers. The team also recreated iconic locations such as Grand Central Station, adding depth and authenticity to every frame, digitally building the trains, subway platforms, windows, and environment extensions.
Overall, Digital Domain completed almost 500 shots across locations in Los Angeles, Canada, and Hyderabad and contributed 15 sequences for the film.
You can see more of their work - including an interesting shot of the Madame Web and the three Spider-Women confirming their lenses were created with VFX - in the players below.
Meanwhile, in another universe...In a switch from the typical genre, Madame Web tells the standalone origin story of one of Marvel publishing's most enigmatic heroines.
The suspense-driven thriller stars Dakota Johnson as Cassandra Webb, a paramedic in Manhattan who may have clairvoyant abilities. Forced to confront revelations about her past, she forges a relationship with three young women destined for powerful futures...if they can all survive a deadly present.
The movie stars Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O’Connor, Isabela Merced, Tahar Rahim, Mike Epps, Emma Roberts, and Adam Scott.
Madame Web is now available on Digital platforms.