Kevin Feige Reveals Marvel Is Cutting Costs on Visual Effects & They are Learning from Low-Budget Sci-Fi Hit

It’s no secret that making movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe costs a lot of money. These films have huge budgets, mostly because of all the CGI and special effects needed to bring comic book stories and superpowers to life.

Because of these high costs, Marvel movies need to earn a lot at the box office just to avoid being called flops, even if they do well by normal standards.

But now, Marvel Studios is trying to change that. Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel Studios, recently revealed during the press tour for Fantastic Four: First Steps that the studio is working hard to cut down on the expenses for visual effects.

Feige explained that after the movie Avengers: Endgame and the pandemic, the budgets for Marvel films grew a lot. The studio felt the pressure to deliver massive, spectacular scenes, which pushed costs higher.

However, in 2023, Marvel started to “grind down the budget,” Feige said. He shared that Marvel’s movies from Deadpool & Wolverine up to The Fantastic Four ended up costing about a third less than films made just two years before that.

To find new ways to save money, Marvel even met with the team behind the 2023 sci-fi film The Creator, directed by Gareth Edwards, which was made on a surprisingly low $80 million budget.

Feige said, “I think everybody’s in that state of mind, at least at Disney. I think it has to get better. Is AI going to do that? I don’t know.” This shows Marvel is open to new ideas and technology that could help lower costs without hurting the quality of their movies.

The Creator was praised for its amazing visuals, which were created by top visual effects companies like Industrial Light & Magic, Weta Workshop, and many others. The film’s design of a fictional military space station called NOMAD stood out for its unique look and sound effects.

Edwards explained that it took the whole COVID-19 lockdown period to design the station, mixing ideas of a “bird of prey” and “an all-seeing eye in the sky.” The sound for the station was carefully created to be more like music than just noise, with the filmmakers focusing heavily on sound design instead of using a traditional music score.

To keep costs low, the filmmakers used smart filming methods. Instead of building expensive sets or relying heavily on green screens, they shot on location in 80 real places around the world, using natural light and a small crew. Edwards said this guerrilla-style filming saved a lot of money. He estimated that The Creator only cost $80 million, whereas a similar movie might have easily cost $300 million.

Interior scenes and stunts were filmed at Pinewood Studios, and filming finished in May 2022. These cost-saving ideas have clearly caught the attention of Marvel Studios, which wants to keep making amazing films while also managing their budgets better.

With the pressure on studios to produce big spectacles without breaking the bank, Marvel’s new approach to visual effects and filmmaking could shape the future of the MCU. It’s clear that learning from films like The Creator might help Marvel keep the magic alive, without the massive price tag.

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