When The Mandalorian first premiered on the Disney+ subscription streaming service, viewers were blown away by the level of visual effects achieved with the series. As the first-ever live-action Star Wars television series, there was quite a bit of pressure on The Mandalorian‘s shoulders, but thanks to a revolutionary new screen filming technology dubbed ‘The Volume’, the series was able to bring new worlds to life in a way never previously imagined.
Disney, the parent company of Lucasfilm, certainly seems pleased with the quality of the product that has been using ‘The Volume’, and now they’re extending its use to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for both Thor: Love And Thunder and Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3.
‘The Volume’, also known as Stagecraft, allows filmmakers to shoot life-like indoor and outdoor sequences in a 3D stage environment within an indoor studio. The entirety of The Mandalorian has been filmed this way and audiences have found the digitally produced environments to be almost flawlessly believable and immersive in a way filmmakers have never previously been able to achieve. The first two seasons of The Mandalorian were filmed using this new Stagecraft technology, with the third season and multiple spin-off series like The Book Of Boba Fett and Ahsoka expected to film this way as well.
There are currently only four Stagecraft ‘Volumes’ existent in the world, two in Los Angeles, one in the U.K., and one in Australia. Based on the level of visual effect achieved using this new filming technique, it looks like a number of other projects will begin to utilize this technology. Stagecraft has also been helpful for studios working on filming during the current global pandemic, as it only requires a small number of film crew members to be present in the smaller filming environment.
Thor: Love And Thunder director Taika Waititi has stated that he planned to utilize the new Stagecraft technology for the upcoming fourth chapter in the story of Marvel’s God Of Thunder. Waititi has a bit of an upper hand here as he previously directed an episode of The Mandalorian and has firsthand experience with the new technology that not many people have yet. It is also very likely that Waititi will utilize the technology on his own upcoming Star Wars project that is currently in development.
Now Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has said he plans on using this new technology as well for Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3. Gunn recently opened up his Twitter account to take questions from fans where he talked about his plans for Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3, which he has revealed he is expecting to start filming later this year in the U.K. once his promotional campaign with DC and Warner Bros. for The Suicide Squad wraps up.
When a fan asked if Gunn planned on exploring Disney and Lucasfilm’s new Stagecraft ‘The Volume’ technology for the third space-faring adventure with the Guardians Of The Galaxy, his answer was simple-
“Some. Where it fits.”
It is nice to hear that he doesn’t plan on leaning too hard on ‘The Volume’ for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and will only use it when it seems like it would be most beneficial when he shoots the film later this year. While the technology has made The Mandalorian look absolutely phenomenal, it might bring a drastically different look and feel to the Guardians Of The Galaxy universe, which could be off-putting for viewers in the third and likely final chapter of the franchise.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is expected to release in 2023. While the cast has not been formally confirmed, it is anticipated that Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, and Sean Gunn will all be returning to their respective roles. The majority of the Guardians characters will next appear in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love And Thunder (2022), which the cast just completed filming scenes.
James Gunn is currently in the process of filming his new Peacemaker television series with John Cena for the HBO Max subscription streaming service. Work on the new series is expected to conclude just in time for him to jump on the promotional campaign for The Suicide Squad; a film from which Peacemaker is actually spun-off from. The Suicide Squad is set to release in theaters on August 6, 2021. It is also going to drop on HBO Max for streaming on the same day it releases in theaters, following suit with the rest of the 2021 Warner Bros film slate.
Do you think it is a wise choice for Marvel Studios to bring ‘The Volume’ into play for the MCU? Where do you think the Guardians could go next with this new filmmaking technology available? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below and be sure to stick around Geek Anything for all the latest Marvel updates!
