Sean Gunn Apparently Had the Least Glorious Job on the Avengers: Endgame Set

Avengers: Endgame is officially the biggest movie to hit the box office and it has a rather large reported production budget as well. A good chunk of that, of course, goes to the stunning visual effects needed to make such a grand blockbuster fit for the silver screen. As a result, there’s a fair share of motion capture and motion reference actors involved in the making of the film that are never seen in the final product.

One of those on the set of Avengers: Endgame working as a motion reference actor was Guardians of the Galaxy star Sean Gunn. The brother of fan-favorite filmmaker James Gunn, Sean plays Kraglin in the Guardians franchise while serving as the stand-in for Rocket in every appearance, including on the set of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

You see, the thing the differentiates the between motion capture and motion reference is the latter isn’t required to wear this grey and black pajama-type suits we’ve seen plenty times before. Rather, the actors are simply in play to give animators something to base the computer-generate character off of. Unfortunately for Sean Gunn, that means he had to act disgusted as his head was hugged straight into Bro Thor’s gut and groin area in New Asgard, as evidenced in the below behind-the-scenes pics that have surfaced on Reddit.

When we spoke to Gunn earlier this year, he was sure to point out the difference between capture and reference actors and how the effects vendors implement it all with the latest technology.

“The thing that was unusual is that the motion capture part of it, which is technically motion reference, not motion capture because it’s not, they’re not doing it through a computer,” Gunn reflected. “The animators are literally watching what I do and animating that rather than sending it through an algorithm the way that you would do it with the way you would do it with a more humanoid character. That doesn’t work for a raccoon. It just doesn’t, the technology isn’t there. It doesn’t look good enough. So the animators actually watch what I do and animate that.”

What Phase 4 Marvel film are you looking forward to most? Share your thoughts in the comments below or by tweeting me at @AdamBarnhardt to chat all things MCU!

Avengers: Endgame is set for digital release July 30th ahead of physical home media on August 13th.