LOS ANGELES — Fans of the first two Ant-Man movies were shocked to discover that the latest entry, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, used practical effects to simulate Ant-Man’s signature shrinking powers.
“With rising costs and heavier workloads for our CGI department, we had to do something new,” said Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. “I asked the director to find a solution. When he came back with his idea, I was stunned. I mean, having Paul Rudd get on his knees to shrink? Genius. I couldn’t believe we wasted so much money on the first two Ant-Man films.”
While the innovative idea is making waves in the film industry, director Peyton Reed noted that the practice actually has roots in classic cinema.
“As a young man, I was inspired by the 1987 film Dorf on Golf, in which the 5’ 6” Tim Conway plays a much shorter character. When Kevin asked us to cut costs, I knew it was finally my chance to repeat that technical feat in my own film,” said Reed. “There are challenges, of course, like making sure Paul’s legs aren’t visible behind him, which I think we did in a good nine out of ten shots. You can barely even tell we didn’t use CGI.”
Paul Rudd was reportedly very excited to try out this new method of acting.
“When they told me I would be spending a lot of the movie on my knees, I was like, ‘Whoa, man.’ I mean, it’s just a regular size guy kneeling down, right? How does that work? But then I saw the final cut of the film, and boom, I’m way smaller. It’s movie magic,” said Rudd. When asked how the movie would handle his character’s ability to grow in size, Rudd gave his signature charming smile and said, “Two words: tippy toes.”
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quatumania opened in theaters on February 17 and has seen universal praise for its practical effects and sparing use of CGI.
