Gavin Bocquet, the production designer for Marvel’s Avengers: Doomsday, says the film used mostly real sets rather than blue screens.
Speaking to Young Indy Chroniclers, Bocquet discussed the Avengers: Doomsday production method. For Doomsday, 80% of the interior sets used physical backings, allowing scenes to be captured entirely in-camera.
Traditionally, blue screens were the default for interior and exterior effects. The production team incorporated practical elements into the sets wherever possible, rather than assuming all effects could be added digitally. Using physical backings and in-camera setups created a more realistic visual experience for both actors and the audience.
Bocquet said, “The default situation before us was, ‘Let’s put a blue screen out there,’ while we had physical backings for 80% of the interior sets, so it was all in-camera. And then it was all in-camera, you know, and in the end, that’s as much a visual choice as a money choice—if they don’t have to change the exterior. So wherever we could, we brought that bit of experience in just to adjust those things, rather than presuming you can always add it in with visual effects.”
‘Thunderbolts*’ Post-Credits Tag Scene Filmed Mostly In-Camera for Avengers: Doomsday
Bocquet reveals that the Doomsday tag scene, shown at the end of Thunderbolts*, was filmed in Avengers Tower with many characters present. This tag needed to be shot well ahead of the main production because the previous film was still releasing.
Only three days were allocated for post-production on this scene, requiring most effects to be done practically. While Marvel traditionally used blue screens for such effects, for Doomsday they aimed to use physical or painted backings wherever possible. Sets either featured Rosco-created backings or painted ones to simulate environments, resulting in a more realistic visual experience.
Bocquet said, “The tag of Doomsday, which you saw at the end of Thunderbolts*, takes place in Avengers Tower, with all the characters from Thunderbolts* present. Then the other characters start to come in. That set was built specifically for the film, but they needed to shoot the tag section well ahead of the main production because the film was coming out, so they needed a tag. Chris Towns and the team only had three days to do any post-production on that shot, which is obviously not much time, and there’s a huge picture window on one side. For the tag, we had to use a physical backing—a sky backing of New York outside the window. There’s also a monitor on set that shows the F4 ship coming in.”
He added, “The Marvel guys were coming on, the actors were coming on, and they were almost saying, “Well, this is the first time we’ve been on a Marvel set where everything is in camera.” They were so used to it having, “Oh, we’ll put the blue on the screen, we can put the ship in later.” So wherever you look 360, it was like, that’s interesting. So we were very keen later on. We had a lot of sets with backings outside them, physical backings, and generally the default situation previous to us was probably, let’s put blue screen out there and do that. But wherever possible, we either had a Rosco backing that we created ourselves or a painted backing.”
Avengers: Doomsday is directed by the Russo brothers from a screenplay by their longtime collaborator Stephen McFeely and Michael Waldron. The film features cinematography by Newton Thomas Sigel (Bohemian Rhapsody, X-Men: Days of Future Past).
Confirmed Cast for Avengers: Doomsday
Main MCU Heroes:
- Robert Downey Jr. – Doctor Doom
- Paul Rudd – Ant-Man
- Simu Liu – Shang-Chi
- Tom Hiddleston – Loki
- Florence Pugh – Yelena Belova
- Danny Ramirez – Falcon
- Sebastian Stan – Bucky Barnes
- Winston Duke – M’Baku
- Chris Hemsworth – Thor
- Letitia Wright – Black Panther
- Tenoch Huerta Mejía – Namor
- Anthony Mackie – Captain America
- David Harbour – Red Guardian
- Wyatt Russell – U.S. Agent
- Hannah John-Kamen – Ghost
X-Men Universe:
- Ian McKellen – Magneto
- Patrick Stewart – Professor X
- Rebecca Romijn – Mystique
- James Marsden – Cyclops
- Kelsey Grammer – Beast
- Alan Cumming – Nightcrawler
- Channing Tatum – Gambit
Fantastic Four Universe:
- Pedro Pascal – Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic)
- Vanessa Kirby – Sue Storm (Invisible Woman)
- Joseph Quinn – Johnny Storm (Human Torch)
- Ebon Moss-Bachrach – Ben Grimm (The Thing)
- Lewis Pullman – Sentry
Produced by Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, and Russo Brothers will produce through their AGBO banner.
Avengers: Doomsday will be released in theaters and IMAX across the United States on December 18, 2026, and Avengers: Secret Wars is scheduled for release on December 17, 2027.
