Inhumans Director Reveals How He Got The Gig

Marvel TV director Roel Reiné is quick to admit the reason why he got the job to helm the first two episodes for Marvel’s The Inhumans: he’s cheap and quick.

Reiné has a history of directing low-budget action films such as Death Race 2, the Scorpion King 3, and Hard Target 2, which he says made him the perfect candidate for the IMAX-first Inhumans series.

“I think they liked me for the job because I was able with my action movies to shoot in a very short time, or with very low budgets, action that looks like a big-budget movie,” he told CNet. “It was not a feature film, it was a TV episode, but they still wanted to have the scope.”

Reiné said that time was also a major factor, calling the shooting schedule “super tight.”

“I had TV schedule time to shoot it with IMAX cameras,” Reiné said. “20 days to shoot two episodes. It’s nerve-wracking but I come from a low-budget film world, so 20 days for me is luxury.”

Given the creative control Marvel executives maintain over their projects, Reiné said he was surprised The Inhumans was a positive experience.

“There was always a Marvel executive around me, just to make sure that whatever I did, or whatever we did together, would tie in with other characters in other universes, in other comics, in other series or movies. They’re very protective,” Reiné said. “These people are very passionate about their product and about characters and about doing the best version of everything. I heard all of these horror stories of working with Marvel, but I didn’t feel that way. It was very collaborative. … Nine out of ten times they liked what I pitched — even radical things.”

Some of those ideas included ways to ground the story in a visual sense and differentiate it from typical television aesthetics.

“Shaky handheld stuff doesn’t really work for IMAX,” Reiné said, which is typical for many television shoots. “I chose the way to move the cameras more forwards and backwards, and also we built the sets with more scope on top and higher, bigger ceilings … It was really a blast.”

We’ll be able to see the fruits of his labors when Marvel’s The Inhumans premieres in IMAX theaters on September 1.

Marvel’s Inhumans explores the never-before-told epic adventure of the royal family, including “Black Bolt,” the enigmatic, commanding King of the Inhumans, with a voice so powerful that the slightest whisper can destroy a city. After the Royal Family of Inhumans is splintered by a military coup, they barely escape to Hawaii where their surprising interactions with the lush world and humanity around them may prove to not only save them, but Earth itself.