James Cameron told ComicBook.com in a recent video interview that when it comes to capturing motion and creating emotional faces from VFX, Marvel villain Thanos doesn’t hold a candle to Navi. Both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Cameron’s “Avatar” franchise use extensive motion-capture technology to enable real-world actors to play other-worldly creatures. Josh Brolin stars as Thanos, while “Avatar” turns the likes of Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana into blue-skinned aliens.
Reporter Brandon Davis asked Cameron if the VFX achievements from the Marvel movies and the comic book movie world had inspired him to raise the bar, to which the filmmaker replied, “Obviously the big comic book movies are absolutely Drives the volume of films. The industry … the rising tide of technology brings everyone together. It gives you high-quality artists, other tools and plugins and code. [to use]. You have a lot of talented people out there writing code.
“Our team at WETA Digital is constantly hiring new hires, and it’s coming out of that pool,” continued Cameron. “So it makes everything better. That said, the WETA effects, as they’re called now, are better. Right? Industrial light and magic work great, but when it comes to the kind of facial emotional stuff that we Are we doing… Thanos? Me. Give me a break. You see [‘Avatar: The Way of Water’]. It’s not even close. This is what WETA did.
Cameron is often critical of Marvel movies, so much so that he began his ComicBook.com interview by declaring, “I just want to say up front that I’m not going to analyze the Marvel or DC universe.” Apparently, Cameron can’t help himself. In an interview with The New York Times in October, the director went viral for saying that he wants to bring the stakes and character maturity to “Avatar: Waterway” that the Marvel Cinematic Universe lacks.
“Zoe and Sam are now playing with their parents, 15 years later,” Cameron said. “In the first movie, Sam’s character jumps out of his flying creature and changes the course of history as a result of this crazy, almost suicidal belief. And Zoe’s character jumps out of a part and assumes there’s going to be a It’s nice to have big leaves that can stop it from falling. But when you’re a parent, you don’t think like that. So for me, as a parent of five kids, I’m like, ‘What’s going on? When will these characters mature and realize that they have responsibilities beyond their own survival?’
Cameron continued, “When I watch these big, exciting movies — I’m looking at you, Marvel and DC — it doesn’t matter how old the characters are, they all act like they’re in college. They Relationships, but they don’t really have them. They never hang their heads because of their children. The things that really ground us and give us strength and love and purpose? These characters don’t experience that, and I think That is not the way to make movies.
“Avatar: Waterway” opens in theaters nationwide on December 16.
