Digital Domain Delivers Grounded & Invisible VFX for Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts*
For Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts*, the award-winning visual effects team at Digital Domain brought grounded, high-impact action to life in two pivotal sequences. Led by Visual Effects Supervisor Nikos Kalaitzidis, the team at Digital Domain departed from the traditional superhero spectacle, and, instead, focused on realism, tension, and seamless integration of “invisible” VFX into practical sets. Additionally, Digital Domain was responsible for developing the digital assets for Yelena Belova (Black Widow), John Walker (Walker), and Ava Starr (Ghost), which were also shared with other VFX vendors for use throughout the film.
One of the studio’s key sequences unfolds inside a hidden vault owned by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. After luring the Thunderbolts* into the space under false pretenses, de Fontaine sets off a brutal confrontation, but as the stakes rise, they come to the realization that they’ll have to work together if they want to survive.
The Vault Fight
The vault was built as a 100-foot-long, 24-foot-high practical set, Digital Domain extended the environment digitally where needed—adding depth with walls, vents, and connecting hallways. The team also digitally replaced the vault ground and foreground elements in certain cases, while adding detailed simulations of paper and set-dressed boxes to help further integrate the actors within the environment. As the vault brawl unfolds, the VFX team removed stunt rigs, cables, and safety pads, while also enhancing character movements through a combination of full stunt replacements and targeted stunt enhancements. For instance, as Taskmaster fights off Walker, her arm was independently retimed and repositioned to maintain momentum and eliminate unnatural pauses in the original choreography.
Digital Domain added finishing touches like 3D sparks using Houdini, and interactive shield lighting, helping to sell the intensity of the fight while staying grounded in the scene’s realism.
Blending Performances
In another standout shot, Yelena (Florence Pugh) is thrown across the room in a single, uninterrupted camera move. Traditionally, this kind of stunt would involve a digital double and a quick handoff during motion blur. However, the filmmakers wanted to linger on the grittiness of the fight, rather than relying on a quick cut or motion blur. To achieve this, the team blended a stunt performer’s take with Florence Pugh’s performance using Digital Domain’s proprietary face-swapping tool, Charlatan. This sequence marked the first time Charlatan was used to assist in replacing an actor’s body, including hair and costume—pushing the technology beyond facial replacement and into full-body digital performance blending. The two shots featured different camera moves and perspectives, so Digital Domain reconciled them in 3D, created a seamless master camera, reconstructed the environment, and used a combination of Charlatan, compositing, and a digital double of Yelena to unify the shot.
In another sequence, the Digital Domain team utilized Charlatan once again during a stunt move known as a “kip-up” performed by Walker.
Creating the Ghost Effect
The Ghost character, also known as Ava Starr and portrayed by Hannah John-Kamen, presented another unique challenge. Although her signature phasing ability had been featured in earlier Marvel projects, the VFX team at Digital Domain was tasked with reimagining the effect across more than 20 shots, with compositors carefully crafting a fresh visual language to bring it to life. Originally created as an entirely 2D solution, the team incorporated custom animation and lighting, resulting in a more polished and elevated look.
During the vault fight between Ghost and Taskmaster, the production team used a classic “Texas switch” technique to simulate Ghost’s phasing ability—swapping performers mid-shot to achieve an in-camera illusion. To enhance this effect, Digital Domain blended two separate takes and digitally removed one of the actors to sell the transition. The team motion-tracked the plate and created offset performances, called “leaves,” which were rendered with varying shutter angles to produce a streaking phasing effect. The practical actor was removed and then composited back in, mixed with the leaves and motion blurred passes, the team enhanced the final look with elements like chromatic aberration.
Fire, Explosions, and a Climactic Escape
As the vault sequence reaches its climax, the characters realize they’ve been lured into a deadly trap: a massive incinerator. Digital Domain handled the environmental effects, adding CG fire and explosions, environmental debris, and simulated pressure reactions to create a dramatic escape sequence. In the final moments, the team escapes just in time, avoiding the full force of the blast.
The VFX team also crafted Taskmaster’s explosive arrow, which went through multiple iterations and simulations to strike the right balance—large enough to feel impactful, but grounded enough to fit the scene’s tone.
Another set piece featured the team scaling a narrow elevator shaft using a cable rig that allowed all four actors to climb back-to-back. Digital Domain removed the rigging, extended the practical shaft into a perilous vertical void. The team also created a CG replacement for Bob Reynolds (also known as Sentry) to better match the action in the scene, which required detailed hair and cloth simulations to ensure a seamless integration with the live-action footage.
Bringing Thunderbolts* to Life
Overall, Digital Domain contributed nearly 200 VFX shots to Thunderbolts*, developing a range of signature effects and assets. This included creating the Widow Bite effect and how the energy is discharged from Yelena’s bracelet. The team also handled the opening and closing mechanisms for Ghost’s and Taskmaster’s helmets, designing Taskmaster’s to open and close more slowly, with a heavier, mechanical feel that integrated closely with the character’s head to emphasize weight and realism.
Additional highlights included building the Cryo Case used to store Bob, developed by our asset department based on previs provided by production. The team also contributed to the surreal sequence inside Bob’s mind, where the characters step into a closet and emerge in a different dimension with Meth Chicken.
Thunderbolts* is now playing in theaters. Get tickets now: fandango.com/Thunderbolts
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