Artists point out a flaw in Avengers: Endgame’s VFX design for Thanos (Josh Brolin). Marvel Studios had been teasing the introduction of the Mad Titan as early as 2011’s Thor. As the overall villain of the Infinity Saga, he appeared via cameos leading to his official debut in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War. This proved to be a challenge for Marvel Studios considering that the film featured a massive cast all vying for screen time. But between his domineering presence on the big screen and making him the narrative’s focal point, he’s able to quickly establish himself as the biggest foe the MCU has seen thus far.

With his win at the end of Infinity War - successfully decimating half of life in the universe despite a gallant effort from the Avengers to stop him, fans were excited for his return in Endgame. However, as the narrative shifted with the focus put on the heroes, Thanos wasn’t in Endgame the same way he was in Infinity War. He only made a real big impact on the narrative during the climactic battle where he and his minions faced off with essentially every single hero in the franchise. This made up the movie’s whole final act, and with the sheer number of  elaborate shots needed to be polished via VFX, the team appears to have missed one.

In the latest installment of Corridor Crew’s VFX Artists React, the team brings in Weta Digital’s Matt Aiken who was a VFX supervisor for Endgame. At one point in the video, the hosts point out how Thanos had a clipping issue when he started to snap using Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) nano-tech Infinity Gauntlet. Aiken admits that even he didn’t notice this. Check out the video (5:03) and the rest of the episode below:

Throughout the video, Aiken recounts how they’re able to bring some of Endgame’s most memorable shots to life. And it does sound like a tedious process considering that they were working with a lot of moving pieces. However, perhaps one of Marvel Studios and their VFX house partners biggest accomplishment so far is the design of Thanos. Making a giant purple alien resonate on the big screen without hindering the impressive work of Brolin as the character is truly impressive. This is also the reason why despite him seemingly meeting his end thanks to Tony’s sacrifice, people are open to see more of him in the franchise. After all, there’s still so much to know about him. This minor lapse doesn’t take away anything from the hard work they put into creating Thanos, as well as in the movie in general.

Given the massive work that Aiken and the rest of Avengers: Endgame’s VFX team accomplished, their efforts are being recognized in this year’s Academy Awards where they are nominated for Best Visual Effects. They are going up against fellow Disney productions such as Jon Favreau’s The Lion King and J.J. Abrams’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, as well as Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman and and Sam Mendes’ 1917.

More: Endgame’s Thanos Made The Same Funny Mistake Iron Man Did In The Avengers

Source: Corridor Crew

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