Disney+'s The Mandalorian not only brought the Star Wars universe in stunning live-action to streaming, Jon Favreau and Industrial Light and Magic have been revolutionizing sets with some incredible technology that levels up the typical green and blue screens major Disney productions like Avengers: Endgame use with their actors. And according to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3’s James Gunn, the upcoming MCU film will use some of its new tech.
On the set of The Mandalorian, the production implemented the use of background screen technology that can replace green and blue screens on a set, along with using puppetry for Baby Yoda. LED screens that display backgrounds premade in a video game engine allow actors to see the surroundings they are interacting with, instead of completely imagining it on their own.
While James Gunn was doing a Twitter Q&A this week, the filmmaker said he is planning to use this technology on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 “where it fits” in the production. The upcoming Marvel movie will not be a completely LED production (either because it’d be wildly expensive or its fairly new tech to the director) but, either way, Gunn’s answer is a really exciting development for the space adventure.
The technology began its development on Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book and was forwarded on his photorealistic version of The Lion King from 2019. The LED screens used on The Mandalorian reportedly made the lighting better, the filming process smoother and production for the VFX crew cheaper, per Insider. You can learn more about the technology here:
It’s pretty amazing what ILM has been able to accomplish recently with The Mandalorian. We’d imagine a lot more Disney productions will start implementing these technologies more often, depending on what the specific production entails. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has yet to start filming, as James Gunn is currently making his Suicide Squad spinoff TV show Peacemaker, starring John Cena.
James Gunn got to dive into the DCEU universe last year by making a new installment for the franchise titled The Suicide Squad. Although his initial plans were delayed, he’s still set to return to Marvel for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 coming in 2023 and the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which arrives in late 2022. There’s also going to be a Disney+ series involving Groot called I Am Groot.
Right now, many of the Guardians of the Galaxy are on set with Chris Hemsworth’s Thor for Taika Waititi’s Love and Thunder, which is presumed to pick up where Endgame left off, which Thor seemed to be getting cozy with the cosmic team. Marvel has a huge slate in store for fans, following the current events occurring on WandaVision over on Disney+.
