Black Panther’s all CGI Suit a True Marvel

The inclusion of the new Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War was a big deal for Marvel-heads. What was especially interesting was his new look—specifically his clearly CGI-assisted changing eye sizes (which the internet has speculated are actually camera-assisted eyes, thanks to Tony Stark). The look was a hit, and fans went away very excited for the Tom Holland-led version of Spidey going forward. Then there was Giant-Man, which we touched upon yesterday. When Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) went from being the microscopic Ant-Man to the towering colossus Giant-Man, the big battle at the airport took on an almost carnival atmosphere. People loved it. The CGI was outstanding.

Yet, the most impressive feat of CGI was also the subtlest; Black Panther’s suit. Now that the Civil War DVD is out, the writers and director’s commentary on the film has been illuminating. In fact, luminescence was exactly what the filmmakers wanted to see in Black Panther's suit, and one of the big reasons a practical costume wouldn't have worked. Here’s what co-director Joe Russo had to say about the creation of Black Panther’s totally bad-ass suit, with a h/t to ScreenCrush:

“[They] really did a ton of work on that outfit. I mean, we had an outfit that we used on set. It’s impossible when you’re talking about an otherworldly outfit like the one that the Panther wears, which has a certain luminescence to it because it’s made of a woven metal. We could never afford to construct an outfit like that that an actor or a stunt player could move around in without sweating to death or that would capture the luminescence that we need. So what we ended up doing in post is ILM came in and painted over Chadwick and the stuntman. The outfit is completely CG.”