Thunderbolts*

Thunderbolts* follow the story of an unconventional team of antiheroes, who, after finding themselves ensnared in a death trap, must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts.

Led by both ILM’s San Francisco and Vancouver studios, the company’s work consisted largely of the newly introduced character Bob Reynolds, portrayed by Lewis Pullman, when he takes his form as the Sentry, and later, the Void. The largest challenge lay in visualizing Void’s powers, avoiding anything that felt like it had been done before, but also steering away from anything so magical it lost a sense of realism. The team started what they called shadow development back in May of 2023, using a hybrid approach of 2D composite treatment and CG assets to create a version of the Void that allowed for specific details to shine through the otherwise all encompassing shadowy figure.

Another shot including Pullman’s character involved months and months of both pre-production and post-production work to accomplish. When the Thunderbolts* arrive at the Penthouse to discover Valentina awaiting them with the Sentry, there’s a sequence where Sentry uses his powers to push Red Guardian through the window and back. That sequence is a continuous, 45-second shot up until the moment both Ghost and Walker get thrown out of frame, and was a labor of love between a large number of different departments within ILM.

The Thunderbolts* team was led by visual effects supervisor Chad Wiebe, animation supervisor Lee McNair, visual effects executive producer Jeanie King, and visual effects producer Dan Cortez. 

Thunderbolts* is now available to watch on Disney+.

Read more about Thunderbolts* on ILM.com:

Tackling Marvel’s ‘Thunderbolts*’ with ILM Visual Effects Supervisor Chad Wiebe