Because of rushed post-production schedules, it's now common for visual effects houses to share responsibilities on any given blockbuster, and Hydraulx is apparently handling the opening sequence of The Avengers, according to Wells's new interview with Starburst. In this capacity, Wells said he's attended a rough-cut screening, and he declared it s resounding success, saying,
"We're doing what essentially boils down to the prelude of the movie. There's a whole intro that happens before you start even getting the titles and it's pretty big. There's nothing small in this movie. I went to a screening with all the temporary visual effects and it was pretty fleshed out. It's a long movie but it doesn't feel like it. Out of all the comic book movies and franchises I've worked on, this is the best one I've seen so far."
Given that he's previously only directed one feature film and a bunch of television episodes, Joss Whedon seemed at once both an obvious and unexpected choice to direct the feature towards which Marvel Studios has been moving since Samuel L. Jackson first strutted into frame during a post-credits scene of Iron Man. Whedon's known for his nimble dialogue and character work, but asked whether The Avengers delivers as a character piece or an action machine, Wells answered,
"I think they nailed both. Joss and I have worked on some projects before and he does a very good job with characters. Since this is the first time that we see these guys together as a unit, he had to address all their personal dealings with one another. I think he did a very good job of setting up the characters based on what we know from the Marvel franchise, integrating them together with all their differences and similarities and then getting on with business. And just when you think the movie is a character piece it just goes nuts."
A rumor has suggested that, while Loki is the film's driving antagonist, Captain America: The First Avenger's villain, Red Skull, will show up in what amounts to a cameo. Wells dismissed the rumor outright but said rather cryptically, "That's ok because there's enough bad guys to go around."
Wells went to on to promise all manner of bigness, especially regarding The Hulk, a Marvel character who, in the course of two separate cinematic incarnations, still seems to not have gotten his fair shake. Wells said,
"I promise you it's not going to be boring. This thing has gone so big that Marvel are dwarfing their other franchises. For people who enjoy the comics and haven't really liked the way some of the characters were treated in other movies, I think they're going to be a little more appeased by this one. Especially the Hulk. They let the Hulk be Hulk and that's great. He acts more like the comic book Hulk. It's fun. My biggest problem with every single superhero movie is I don't think the payoff ever matches the build up. This one definitely does."
So okay, The Avengers is going to be big.
The movie is both written and directed by Joss Whedon. It stars, of course, Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston, Cobie Smulders, and Clark Gregg.
The Avengers arrives in theaters on May 4th.
