Making Captain America look like an old man in Avengers: Endgame was no easy for the filmmakers and their VFX team. Luckily, the team had some solid reference in methods used on Captain America: The First Avenger to help them pull off the look of Steve Rogers, a new character having lived an entire life and growing into an old man.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“We then started casting for a skin double, looking around for an old guy who approximates the same face and age of Cap, or what Cap would be,” Jen Underdahl, Marvel’s visual effects producer said in the video above. “We shot in the same lighting conditions right after Chris performs. He gives the same lines, he tries to emulate Chris’ performance as much as possible so it doesn’t take a whole lot of hammering when you put it on Chris’ face.”
Then, another actor had to step in — or sit in — for Captain America actor Chris Evans. “In addition to the skin double, you also need to give him an older man’s body, an older man’s sort of overall profile,” Underdahl said. “To do so, we’ll do an overall warp on his body and literally squish him down so he fits in the plate as this character.”
This is where the technology used on the first Captain America movie from 2011 came in handy. “We did the same sort of thing though not with as heavy a hand with old Cap. They took some neck off of him, so he wasn’t quite as beefy here, and we shrunk his shoulders to give him that 106-year-old super soldier look.”
What did you think of Captain America’s look as a super soldier that had aged 106 years? Did you know there was a “skin double” sitting in for Chris Evans or was the on-screen look of Old Man Steve Rogers convincing enough to leave you satisfied? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Instagram and Twitter!
Avengers: Endgame is available now on digital downloads and blu-ray.
