Are previs artists the secret directors of Marvel movies?

Since the start, people who have been watching Marvel films know how much development Marvel has made over the years. But have you ever wondered why these films have been so successful?

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Marvel always takes its visuals very seriously. Every Marvel movie is planned years before it even starts. The studio is never shy in using modern technology in order to bring life to its characters. Not just this, every single scene is taken care of as something very precious.

Use of previsualization in Marvel movies

Marvel studios know what they are going to produce, years before they even start producing it. You might be thinking that they just see the storyline, but no, the production team watches the movie before they even start its production. But how you ask? Through previsualization.

A previs is kind of a map to the film, which helps in planning the whole movie. Every scene of a Marvel movie, including the major action scenes and the quiet sequences, are planned during the making of the previs.

James Gunn’s take on the use of previsualization was a tweet saying, “It should be made clear that although some Marvel directors use previs to design the action sequences, others use it as a tool in designing their own. On both “Guardians” films, the previs was fully built off of my personal storyboards. Every frame of film was designed by me.”

Moreover, he said, “Actually, I just finished the whole thing & I’m kind of perturbed about it & where I was used in this piece considering Third Floor never animated any action in my films that wasn’t first designed by me. Who produced this?”

James Gunn’s statement was like a justification that the video showed the previs of “The Guardians of The Galaxy” is misinterpreting the way Marvel movies are made. He explained how different directors use the previs in different ways; some use it to have a rough idea about the action scene sequences; on the other hand, others use it just to get the idea for their own unique piece. He also explained how he has been making his own storyboards by himself. We can conclude that James Gunn doesn’t really like using previs but doesn’t hate it either.

Previs is maybe the most vital part of the whole process of making a movie in Marvel Studios. Most of the time, the studio starts making the previs even before the script is completed. Previs provides a whole visual map for the project, that the team is going to work on; it makes it easier to know where and how much change is required even before the production.

With modern technology incarnated in the film industry, especially in the animation film industry, there is no doubt that development and betterment find its way. Marvel’s films have entirely changed, or we can call this change a glow-up, then the ones we used to watch as kids.