While Marvel fans are counting down the day until Avengers: Infinity War, the studio itself is still very much riding high on the success of Black Panther. Ryan Coogler's explosive and thrilling blockbuster brought the character into the spotlight for the first time, after his introduction in Captain America: Civil War. Black Panther shattered box office expectations, breaking records and giving the MCU yet another critical win under its belt. The movie has been praised as a significant moment in pop culture, although now it appears that filming had its challenges. Namely, the waterfall scenes that happened a few times over the course of the film's runtime. Victoria Alonso, the executive vp physical production for Marvel Studios, told the story herself, saying:
Every movie has its own challenge. When we were shooting the waterfall scene in Black Panther, the sun was hitting the water in such a way that it was reflecting in the eyes of the actors, and making some people feel dizzy. So we had to stop shooting. It rains in Atlanta a lot, as it does in London. You are constantly chasing weather. You have no way of managing that.
It looks like the hot Atlanta sun was enough to ruin filming on Black Panther, especially when it interacted with water in Wakanda's iconic waterfall. Obviously the set itself was constructed by Marvel for the blockbuster to film in Atlanta, but that doesn't mean that weather couldn't still put a wrench in production's plans. It's reasons like this why so many Marvel movies seem to film their biggest sequences from the safety of a sound stage, surrounded by green screens.
Victoria Alonso's comments to THR are even more interesting when you stop and think about how many times the waterfall came into play during Black Panther. We are first introduced to the iconic set piece during T'Challa's coronation ceremony. He is challenged by frenemy M'Baku, and they battle from atop the waterfall.
Killmonger eventually followed suit, and yet another challenge was made against T'Challa's mantle as King and Black Panther. While the title character didn't fare to well that time around, it once again brought the location back into the narrative. One has to wonder which (or both?) of these scenes was delayed by the Atlanta weather during shooting.
Filming new installments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is clearly tricky, especially considering how much secrecy is associated with each blockbuster. Captain Marvel is currently running into a new set of challenges, as set photos reveal things like costumes and settings. Ultimately this is the risk of filming outside. That, and the weather.
Black Panther is still playing in theaters now, and a handful of characters will also appear in Avengers: Infinity War starting on April 27th, 2018. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
