With its physics-defying action and miniaturized heroes, Ant-Man and the Wasp is a real technological marvel.
Though it shares its release year with Black Panther and a little-known Marvel crossover called Avengers: Infinity War – two eye-popping spectacles in their own right – Peyton Reed’s pint-sized sequel is practically in a league of its own when it comes inspired (and often hilarious) CGI. But creating such an effect wasn’t always smooth sailing, as star Paul Rudd told ComicBook.com.
The following answer is riddled with spoilers for one of Ant-Man and the Wasp‘s funniest scenes, so considering the movie is yet to hit U.S. theaters, we’d advise bookmarking this page and returning at a later date. Don’t worry, we’ll wait.
Still with us? Apparently, the moment in question sees Scott’s suit malfunction “while he’s infiltrating a school with Hope van Dyne. It causes Ant-Man to become Giant-Man unexpectedly, only to end up stuck at a medium size, standing about three feet tall, which called for Rudd to act opposite Evangeline Lilly but at completely different heights.”
Here’s the inside scoop from the actor himself:
It was the most complicated thing to shoot in the whole movie. We had to shoot separately, and then somehow, there are technological things they have to do in that that I don’t understand, things with lighting and angles and all sorts of stuff.
He continued by revealing that both he and Lilly were never actually in the same shot simultaneously, as Peyton Reed and the film’s VFX team called upon green screen to execute what is undoubtedly a tricky set piece.
They would shoot Evangeline in the school, and then there was another person dressed in all green. I was still there, I have to be in shots so that they could establish it. I don’t know how it all worked, I just know it took forever. I was very excited to see the finished product while we were filming it, thinking, ‘What is this going to look like? I can imagine it, and it’s going to just be so weird.’
Ant-Man and the Wasp is now only a few days out from its theatrical debut in the States, where it’s expected to collect around $75M in its opening weekend.
