As the only person in America (the world? solar system? universe?) that kinda, sorta, maybe loves the Green Lantern movie (don’t ask why, I have no idea myself), I say the following with fondness in my heart: the suit Hal Jordan wore was the kind of disaster future historians will write tomes about. It didn’t just look computer-generated, it looked like old, broken, outdated computer generation. Basically, the complete opposite of Black Panther‘s CGI suit from Captain America: Civil War. Yes, Marvel‘s computer-generated costume for its newest superhero looked amazing, and this VFX reel showing just how it was done makes it even more impressive.
We first saw this video at io9, and it comes from CineSite Visual Effects. In addition to the Black Panther costume, the company did work for Civil War on environment shots, like the exteriors in Siberia at Hydra’s missile base, Quinjet shots, a complete replacement of the Winter Soldier’s robotic hand, Zemo’s bomb, and some other, more subtle shots.
But it’s the Black Panther effects that are the real standout here. They did have a filming costume on set, but since the new king of Wakanda wears a suit woven from metal, it required them to “completely replace the original practical suit, shot by shot, with a full CG rendition, to tighten folds in the material and create an overall metallic look.” In fact, for the sequence on the rooftop in Budapest, where the Black Panther battles Bucky, they completely replaced the live stuntman.
Did you realize that? Because I certainly did not. Maybe if they ever do another Green Lantern movie Hal Jordan should use his willpower to get the folks at CineSite to make his suit.
What did you think of Black Panther’s costume? Tell us in the comments below.
Images: CineSite/Marvel Studios