Not All Reshoots Are Bad - The Most Iconic Scene In Marvel History Was Changed Late In The Game
Oftentimes, when a big blockbuster enters a period of reshoots, the chatter online immediately becomes "THIS MOVIE IS DOOMED!" and it's like it's the end of the world.
People assume right away that the film must've tested poorly in early screenings and the studio is desperately trying to stitch together an unsalvageable pile of garbage, and I'll be honest - sometimes they're right! Look at the dreadful 'Fantastic Four' movie that was released in 2015, for example….
They couldn't even find a half decent wig for Kate Mara's reshoots, and the flick was an incoherent wet fart in church that truly felt held together with glue and popsicle sticks. Cheap glue and popsicle sticks, might I add.
This obviously isn't the only example, either - sometimes movies just get caught in the cycle of reshoots hell and can't get out of it, and what eventually comes out is just horrendous. Sometimes it's not horrible, but you could just tell things are clashing tonally scene-to-scene, kinda like 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' with the Lord/Miller vs Ron Howard stuff. Other times, though - reshoots do what they're supposed to do, and fill in the gaps so flawlessly you don't even notice a thing. And on some rare occasions, reshoots actually save the movie, or produce the best scene in it.
According to the Russo Brothers, the famous 'Portals' scene from 'Avengers: Endgame' was "drastically changed" in reshoots - going from a circular shot more focused around Captain America to what we now know as the most iconic scene in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe….
I assume the original shot probably mirrored the "circle up" shots from the first/second 'Avengers' movies to a degree….
….and it sounds like the reshoots allowed for each hero coming out of the portals to have their own distinct moment more than the circling direction, which definitely feels like the right call.
Tony Stark's iconic final line to Thanos before he snaps - "And I….am….Iron Man." - was ALSO added in reshoots, and the final scene shot for the film….
It's pretty crazy how vital these last minute changes could wind up being - stuff you can't imagine any differently now.
Over in the Star Wars galaxy, the Darth Vader "hallway scene" from 'Rogue One' was another late-addition reshoot as well….
….and it's not technically "reshoots" we're talking about now - but everyone knows 'A New Hope' was saved in the edit.
I mention all of this to say: CALM DOWN when it comes to your favorite movie or franchise scheduling reshoots - or even getting delayed! It's a completely normal thing that almost every movie (especially big blockbusters) go through. Yes, sometimes it could be a bad sign - but there's a million other factors that could make/break the movie and you'll really have no idea if the reshoots played a part until it actually comes out. Sometimes even then you won't be able to tell if that's what did them in.
I've seen so many people freaking out about the new 'Captain America' movie's reshoots when in reality, they've hit a couple tough breaks (having to once again change a storyline due to real-world conflicts) and some of Marvel's best work has come outta this process! So everyone just take a deep breath. It's probably gonna be fine….and if it sucks, it's probably not solely due to reshoots.
We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, though, and have to keep our faith alive for the return of the Russo Brothers and Stephen McFeely….
If they're telling us they have an idea they're cooking with, we owe them the trust to believe it by now. They're batting a perfect 1.000 in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, after all. 'Winter Solider', 'Civil War', 'Infinity War', and 'Endgame' is a CRAZY resume.
Listen to the latest episode of My Mom's Basement with me and Clem below….