Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 Used Mostly Practical Effects For That Gory Face Reveal
The following article contains major spoilers for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," so you've been warned.
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" may be the most gnarly entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe yet, and it's all thanks to the sequel's villain: the High Evolutionary played by "Peacemaker" co-star Chukwudi Iwuji. Not only is the High Evolutionary responsible for some rather unsettling bionic animal creations, including Rocket Raccoon, but he's also created Counter-Earth, an entire planet of human-animal hybrids that ends up being completely destroyed. All of his experiments are in an effort to create what he views as a perfect world, but ironically, the High Evolutionary himself is far from perfect.
Aside from the High Evolutionary's skewed perspective on what makes worlds and their inhabitants seemingly flawless and worth preserving, the villain is hiding his own imperfections in plain sight. Beneath faux skin spread stretch across his face, the High Evolutionary has a horrifically scarred face, courtesy of an enraged Rocket Raccoon many years ago. In a movie filled with some nasty, grotesque imagery, seeing the villain's face, where his entire nasal cavity is visible down to the bone, is a truly stomach-churning sight. Though you might assume that this was achieved primarily with visual effects, it turns out a lot of practical makeup effects were used with only an assist from CGI.
'The only visual effects were where his eyes sunk in, and his nose got pushed in'
Honestly, it's a little strange that a character so obsessed with creating a perfect world couldn't figure out how to make his replacement face look a little more natural. But without seeing the stretched skin, we would have never gotten that fantastic "RoboCop" insult from Star-Lord. So I suppose a little leap in logic is worth it.
Anyway, in the final act of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," after the High Evolutionary has been defeated, the Guardians and the audience see just how badly Rocket Raccoon messed up the baddie's face. It's absolutely disgusting, which is fitting for such a heinous character. Interestingly enough, Makeup Department Head Alexei Dmitriew revealed to Awards Radar that the final visual was actually "a great mix of both" practical makeup effects and visual effects. Dmitriew explained:
"We did a full makeup on him with this really cool denture piece that would carry his upper lip. All of that was practical. We had a practical face that we would dress with blood and everything of the sort. The only visual effects were where his eyes sunk in, and his nose got pushed in. We blocked that out for visual effects, and they did their work. But when they peeled his face off, all of that was practical. With every take, we were set to get the face back on and dress it with some slimy blood underneath it."
There's a moment just before the face is torn off where you can see High Evolutionary's face already starting to peel away, a small flap of skin wagging on the side. Part of me wonders whether this was intentional or an accident that ended up working out for the scene. Either way, the final result is an impressive one, and combined with a stirring performance from Chukwudi Iwuji, it makes for one of Marvel's most diabolical bad guys.
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" is playing in theaters everywhere now.