While reviews were mixed for the Asgardian Avenger’s second outing, Marvel Cinematic Universe fans are eagerly anticipating Thor: Ragnarok. While precious little is known about the film’s storyline, the promise of a fresh take on the character from director Taika Waititi and the surprise development of a co-starring role for Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk have the turned the third Thor outing into one of the most unusual-sounding events of the studio’s currently-unfolding Phase 3 plans.
Now, Ruffalo has taken to social media in between filming to further tease fans by showing off his motion-capture suit.
In the brief video clip, Ruffalo offers fans a brief overview of what he dubs his “man-cancelling” mo-cap suit, the technology that allows his live-captured physical movements to be translated into the base-animation for the CGI-animated Hulk in post-production. Of note, his face is also covered with a grid of black makeup dots, indicating that he is also providing performance-capture reference as well in whichever scene was being shot at the time:
Hi again. Here’s another sneak peek at a day in the life of a #Hulk on the set of #Thor3 @marvel A video posted by Mark Ruffalo (@markruffalo) on Jul 12, 2016 at 2:19pm PDT
Special effects fans will note that shooting both types of “capture” footage at once it is not always a guarantee from scene to scene, as the two techniques differ in key respects. While motion-capture is used as the base for physical movement of a three-dimensional animated figure to be inserted into the film, performance-capture on faces typically uses the dots to provide a reference point for digital animators who largely work on the facial-expressions separately. The implication here, then, is that The Hulk is involved in a scene that will be tasking his emotions as much as his physicality, which could align with earlier indications that the Hulk will explore a wider variety of behavior in this film.
Still unknown are the circumstances that find The Hulk departing Midgard (aka “Earth”) to adventure with Thor elsewhere in the Nine Realms. Ragnarok, which is named for the Norse mythological equivalent of Armageddon, is expected to find the God of Thunder exploring the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe in order to investigate the mystery of The Infinity Stones – and possibly also journeying to Hell itself.
Doctor Strange opens in U.S. theaters on November 4, 2016, followed by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – May 5, 2017; Spider-Man: Homecoming – July 7, 2017; Thor: Ragnarok – November 3, 2017; Black Panther – February 16, 2018; Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 – May 4, 2018; Ant-Man and the Wasp – July 6, 2018; Captain Marvel– March 8, 2019; Avengers: Infinity War Part 2– May 3, 2019; and as-yet untitled Marvel movies on July 12, 2019, and on May 1, July 10, and November 6 in 2020.
