See the Creation of Avengers: Endgame‘s Final Battle With Thanos

With Avengers: Endgame available on Blu-ray and digital download, we can now finally see just how the Russo Brothers and their huge cast and crew managed to pull off the biggest film in history. Marvel has just released a new video that details how they created the climactic final battle with Thanos, which completely changed the face of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Just the number of characters required for that scene alone is insane, to say nothing of the fact they’re fighting a largely digital army, is wild. No wonder it took years to put all of this together.

The video highlights the incredible work of folks like visual effects supervisor Dan DeLeeuw and his team of artists, who worked on this film for three years. Think about just how big that final battle is, and how much is happening on screen in every single frame. You’ve got essentially every surviving character from every Marvel film since 2008’s Iron Man showing up. You’ve got the iconic moments, like Cap summoning Thor’s Mjolnir and Iron Man’s sacrifice, but there’s also just a colossal amount of action happening once superheroes start appearing through Doctor Strange’s portals at an astonishing rate.

DeLeeuw and  Marvel’s Ryan Penagos take you through some before-and-after shots. It’ll give you a sense of just how much heavy lifting the VFX team has to do to turn what’s filmed on set—largely against green screens—into the dizzying battle we see on screen. From the iconic moments to the scrum of hundreds of digital characters colliding and fighting, this VFX video is a must-watch for any Endgame fan.

Check out the video here:

For more Avengers: Endgame goodness, check out how they created the Cap v Cap fight, how Thanos was able to destroy Cap’s shield, read our piece on one very well-hidden Easter Egg, more from the commentary track from directors Joe and Anthony Russo and screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus, the comic book callbacks, the bloopers, and the creation of Smart Hulk.

Featured image: Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME. Thanos (Josh Brolin). Photo: Film Frame. ©Marvel Studios 2019