Some of the Worst CGI in the MCU Appears in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’
As much as CGI keeps evolving, a good argument is being made that it seems to get worse with further technological advancements. Why this occurred may come down to CGI making things look too real, or perhaps too much like comic book characters. Adding real, human depth to characters is arguably missing in the CGI seen more recently.
Perhaps this argument comes in the form of Marvel Cinematic Universe fans complaining about the CGI in a few recent Marvel films. It might sound impossible to hear that a movie like Avengers: Infinity War would have any errors in its digital effects.
According to fans, some CGI in that film became problematic, if also superior in many other ways.
Did Thanos have bad CGI in the ‘Infinity War’ trailer?
A Reddit user started a thread asking others to share “Moments you were extremely impressed with the CGI and moments not so impressed.” Responses were mixed, if at least considerable praise for the obvious CGI advancements the MCU brought to movies.
On the other hand, the studio had some embarrassing moments where the CGI never quite worked well. Many fans cite the earlier films (like Iron Man 3) as having a few misguided digital attempts.
However, one user notes the trailer for Infinity War had some problems in Thanos’s CGI. Said the user: “I was impressed by how good Thanos looked in Infinity War and Endgame. I remember when the first trailer for IW dropped, people were saying that Thanos’ CGI looked bad, and mocked how bad it looked and I even saw YouTube videos saying”why CGI villains don’t work” while talking about Thanos, which got me a bit worried”.
From all indications, Marvel used the above trailer as a test run to see what the reaction to Thanos would be. If they really did mess up on the CGI in the trailer, they took it to the limit in the film. Most people say the CGI was above and beyond in realism, despite a few scenes having…well, blips.
CGI details in MCU films are occasionally missed
Many fans on the above Reddit thread agree that special care was put into Thanos’s close-up scenes. Regardless, since so much CGI drenched every scene, a few shots were seemingly glossed over.
Fans still obsess over the Hulkbuster in Infinity War and how bad the CGI looked during fight scenes. On Quora, some still ask why the CGI seemed shoddy for this, particularly with Bruce Banner’s head sticking out of the armor.
Said one Quota user: “It wasn’t up to Marvel’s usual standards. Even I noticed it in the theaters, mostly when Bruce’s head was sticking out of the armor – it looked like they couldn’t keep his torso in synch. The problems weren’t nearly as noticeable on the video though. Perhaps they went back and tweaked them. I did read, that mid-way through production it was decided to switch the Hulk out to the Hulkbuster during the Wakanda battle scenes; and that they were working on the special effects all the way until the very last minute.”
This offered some clues to the obsessive details the MCU puts in by tweaking everything. Conversely, being at crunch time with millions of details, something was bound to be overlooked.
With bigger budgets, the MCU may have fewer CGI mistakes
The amount of money the MCU now has compared to just five years ago is the comparative equivalent between a hill and a mountain. At the time of Infinity War, there was only so much money available to make all the CGI look stellar, if still having a pile of cash on hand.
Going forward, budgets are practically unlimited at Marvel now. Also, their innovations in CGI advancements are sure to happen all over again. Whether it really has heart is up to the perception of the viewer.
Catching all the details can make all the difference. When they tweak future films at the 11th hour, perhaps allowing as many human moments as possible will prevail over filling in everything with a digital pen.
