Action is always the most expensive segment in the Marvel superhero series. The scenes of explosions and breathtaking fights create a certain thrill, helping the works become more attractive. However, the truth is that not all stars feel comfortable filming action scenes with a green screen.
Most recently, star Elizabeth Olsen just shared with Variety a truth few people expected. She said that the action scene in the Marvel blockbuster made her feel embarrassed and in fact looked “silly”. The incident caused a stir because this is not the first time Marvel has caused a stir because of computer effects.
Reasons Elizabeth Olsen is embarrassed
Born in 1989, Elizabeth Olsen joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as Wanda Maximoff (or Scarlet Witch) since Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). To date, she has played the character 5 times on the big screen, most recently Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).
Over time, the role became highly appreciated and was considered an important turning point in Elizabeth Olsen’s career. In particular, her transformation in WandaVision (2021) earned her nominations for Golden Globe, Emmy and Critics’ Choice awards in the acting category.
The truth is that besides Marvel movies, Elizabeth Olsen has not been able to shine in other works. From an unknown actress, Elizabeth Olsen gradually rose to stardom thanks to superhero movies. The character Wanda Maximoff also brought her a large global fan base.
Compared to other Marvel superheroes, Wanda Maximoff is known as the most powerful sorceress. The special feature of the character is the ability to perform diverse magic, not only being able to control other people’s minds but also having boundless power, making anyone facing him terrified.
Wanda Maximoff was gradually promoted from a supporting role to the main character in WandaVision (2021), even an important role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), helping the film earn nearly 1 billion USD at the box office when released. eye.
However, according to Insider, the impressive scene about Wanda Maximoff is in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) when the character tries to take the mind stone from Vision (Paul Bettany) and at the same time fight Thanos (Josh Brolin). At that moment, Elizabeth Olsen had to act completely in front of the green room, and at the same time show off her acting skills in the scene where Wanda Maximoff collapsed due to her efforts but failed, witnessing the person she loved disappear into smoke.
Many viewers also agree, saying that this is one of the most memorable scenes in the movie, and also an important moment in Wanda Maximoff’s life.
However, contrary to the audience’s love, Elizabeth Olsen appeared dissatisfied with the process of working with Marvel. According to an interview with Variety, the star described the magic scenes on set as “silly”. The scene in Avengers: Infinity War was the moment that made Olsen embarrassed.
She said: “It’s so embarrassing with that scene, it’s like the whole world depends on you. I was relieved at the end of this scene, and just giggled every time I remembered it. I understand when it doesn’t work.” In response, our flailing arms and legs were silly. We knew that, but we had to do our best so the crew could handle post-production.”
Explaining Marvel’s approach, Elizabeth Olsen said that the company mainly wants to pamper viewers. “Simply because the audience likes it like that,” she emphasized. The star even wished that one day the producer would release a version of the film without effects “so that everyone can see what appears on the screen.” how to laugh”.
Previously, in The New York Times earlier this year, Olsen also expressed that it was difficult to become part of the MCU because she could not take on the acting parts she really wanted.
“It took away my ability to take on some roles that I thought were more in line with what I liked as an audience member,” Elizabeth Olsen revealed. I started to feel disappointed. I had the security of this job but I lost things that I felt were part of who I was. I’m getting further and further away from that.”
The reality behind Marvel’s effects
This is not the first time Marvel has caused displeasure because of its special effects. In July, the company caused a stir when it suffered a series of mixed reactions from its VFX (computer effects) staff.
Many social network accounts claiming to be VFX experts who have worked with Marvel have used bad words to accuse the studio of exploitation and making unreasonable demands during the working process.
For example, on the Reddit forum, there is an account Independent-Ad419 that created a chat topic called “I’m really sick and tired of working with Marvel”. After that, the user left angry words, saying that “Marvel is the movie studio with the worst VFX production and management methods today.”
Subsequent information revealed that Marvel did not pay the crew adequately for the amount of work they put in. The company always requires employees to edit the images for each program at the last minute, with intense work intensity.
Another account named samvfx2015 shared: “When I was working as Thor, they asked me to submit the complete version of a segment 2-3 weeks before the assignment deadline.” Or the RANDVR account wrote: “I work on three Marvel projects one after another, have to wake up at 5:30 a.m., extremely stressful. I don’t want to continue anymore.” In addition, many users spoke up and shared bad working experiences with Marvel, creating a strong wave of protest on social networks.
The incident also made the audience start to have a completely different view of Marvel. Most reviews of the company’s recent special effects are not good. Typically, the third eye effect of Doctor Stranger (Benedict Cumberbatch) Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), or the appearance of the green giant She-Hulk (Tatiana Maslany) in the series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2020).
Both of these effects are done through speakers, completely inferior to Hollywood’s masterpieces of two decades ago such as The Lord of the Rings series (2001-2003) or Avatar (2009).
The carelessness in the effects partly denounced Marvel, showing that the company did not really invest heavily in the image despite the high budget of the films, averaging more than 100 million USD.
Compared to comments on social networks, Elizabeth Olsen’s words carry much more weight. That also shows the star’s courage, not hesitating to confront the world’s second largest studio, similar to how Scarlett Johansson initiated a legal “war” with Marvel last year.
Notably, Elizabeth Olsen is also one of the few stars who has played Marvel who dares to speak up about Scarlett Johansson. Male stars like Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo… have never made any move to side with their female colleagues.
To a global audience, sorceress Wanda Maximoff is associated with a seductive image and powerful superpowers. However, the character makes the live actor have negative emotions, leaving a bad experience. This is truly ridiculous for a famous studio like Marvel.
Reacted one after another by employees and stars like Elizabeth Olsen and Scarlett Johansson, perhaps it’s time for Marvel to reconsider its way of working.