Ant-Man 3 Writer Teases Intense Action Scene Using the Mandalorian Technology

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania uses technology made famous on The Mandalorian. According to writer Jeff Loveness, the Marvel Studios film is using it to craft a standout action scene. Loveness recently spoke about the film's production on Bridger Winegar's podcast I Said No Gifts! (via The Direct). During the discussion, Loveness mentioned that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania uses StageCraft in its production. That's the technology that Industrial Light & Magic pioneered to bring The Mandalorian's Star Wars planets to life around its actors. Actors, producers, and directors alike have praised the technology, which wraps a soundstage in a wall of LED screens, called The Volume, depicting a virtually constructed landscape. It offers actors something visible to work with and avoids the difficulties and pitfalls of greenscreen digital effects. 

"I was there for, like, three months during preproduction, so its anything from costume people, up-to-the-minute script stuff, you get to meet the actors, you get their points of views on stuff, you get practical things. You have like big goggles to do 3D VR scouts of sets," Loveness explained. "I don't know if you watch The Mandalorian or any of that stuff. There's this new technology called The Volume, which is basically a living green screen. You can actually put up the backgrounds and the cool visual effects that you want in real-time. Much better for the actors, and then they'll do digital stuff later to make it look better. It is pretty cool, it reminds me of an old David Lean matte painting or something in the background, or Wizard of Oz."

Loveness recalled watching an action sequence involving the Wasp, played by Evangeline Lilly. He explained that watching it through those StageCraft goggles was a bit surreal.

"I had one of those things where I felt like a French person watching that train movie," he said. "There was a complicated running sequence where the Wasp, very small, she flies around, she's going through the forest and the camera's moving with her and it tracks on the screen, so it just kind of looks like a legitimate shot from the movie, and it's very jarring to have this gigantic screen moving like a camera. It kind of was! Especially in goggles, I don't recommend throwing an Occulus on your head and jumping into an all CG environment."

Peyton Reed returns to direct Marvel Studios' third Ant-Man movie. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania opens in theaters on July 28, 2023.