Marvel Studios has faced criticism once again for the grueling conditions under which visual effects artists were forced to work on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has been criticized for its poor visual effects, and anonymous artists who worked on the film have come forward to reveal the terrible conditions they endured to complete the CGI.
Some artists allegedly worked 80-hour weeks for months, and one artist compared the situation to what happened with James Cameron on Titanic, where compositors had to take naps under their desks due to a lack of time between shifts.
When a worker who worked on Spider-Man: Homecoming and Guardians of the Galaxy complained about Marvel Studios for overworking and underpaying artists, the company’s problems with unfavorable working conditions for VFX artists first came to light in July 2022. More tales started to surface, and speculations circulated that Marvel Studios was setting up a house VFX business.
Marvel VFX Artist Explains Ant-Man 3’s Underwhelming CGI
The experience of working with Marvel Studios, according to one artist, wasn’t all that bad, although they did note that Quantumania suffered as a result of Marvel giving Black Panther: Wakanda Forever priority.
The artist explained that all the money and best resources went to Black Panther, while Ant-Man was left with editorial changes that happened too late, causing tension, turmoil, and weight on everybody. The end result was shoddy work, which may have contributed to Ant-Man 3’s negative critical reception.
The artist claims that shortcuts were made to hide shoddy work, and certain tactics were employed. Because there needed to be more time to produce everything, several editorial choices were made to avoid showing as much action or effects as there may have been.
The artist stated that certain sequences had been cut or changed to save money and time or hide a lack of progress. According to another artist who echoed similar assertions, the supervisor and higher-up jobs were relocated to accommodate Wakanda Forever, leaving a smaller staff working on Ant-Man.
The uncertain working environment also impacted the artists, as they needed clarification on what was expected of them. They had a rough environment to work in and needed to figure out where the characters should be in that environment. They were going with what felt right, which caused further uncertainty. VFX professionals are reluctant to collaborate with Marvel as more and more problems are revealed. The studio, which has long dominated Hollywood, may be impacted by this.
