Marvel Directors Sound off on Disney+ Debut of IMAX Versions

November 13, 2021, 8:16pm

Earlier this week came the news that Disney+ is now offering the IMAX enhanced versions of several Marvel Studios movies including the likes of recent addition Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, plus Black Panther, Avengers: Endgame, and Doctor Strange. Filmmaker Scott Derrickson, who helmed the Sorcerer Supreme’s solo movie, took to Twitter to voice a bit of skepticism about the addition for his 2016 Marvel movie, noting that he had never intended for that to be how fans watched it at home. Derrickson went on to add that he selected specific scenes in the movie to take advantage of the IMAX aspect ratio but did note: “To be clear I didn’t express disapproval, nor am I bothered that @disneyplus gives viewer the option to view the 1.9 aspect ratio.” Then he watched it himself.

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After revealing he’d given the IMAX version a shot, Derrickson took to Twitter to add: “Today I watched the 1.9 IMAX aspect ratio version of Doctor Strange on @disneyplus, and I actually quite like how it plays. The switch from 2.40 to 1.9 is definitely more noticeable on my 55 inch TV than in an IMAX theater, but it still works. Personally, I still prefer the compositions of the 2.40 aspect ratio for those big set pieces on my TV set, but I get that the widening top and bottom is something a lot of viewers would prefer. I approve of both versions.”

Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn had some thoughts about it as well, since both of his Marvel movies are enhanced for IMAX viewing on the streaming service. Responding to a fan inquiry about the IMAX versions Gunn went into great detail about how it worked for him while making the movies, noting that he would simply pick which scenes would be in the traditional aspect ratio of the movie and which would be in IMAX and shoot them that way rather than alter the frame in post.

Gunn added, “For people watching it switch, nothing ever gets cut off because I’ve already framed every part of the film for a that aspect ratio. But if you watch the whole movie in 2:35 you’ll get slightly less of what I intended in some scenes….That said, if you watch the original version, you’ll see I sometimes have part of an image protrude out of the 2:35 frame. This worked best when the film was shown in 3D. Not sure if the protrusions exist in the Disney plus IMAX versions now being shown.”

In the end Gunn noted that “the Guardians movies switching aspect ratios were originally designed for 3D, not 2D as they’re presently being shown. It’s a more impactful device in 3D.” So only those with a giant 3D TV will get the full effect.

The full list of Marvel films that are available in the IMAX enhanced on Disney+ (which varies by region) includes: