While other interviewers for the report said that “Quantumania” was not the worst effects experience they had ever worked on, what grievances they did have were pretty damning. The aforementioned effects artist expressed annoyance when trying to do the same shortcuts mentioned earlier — editing around unfinished or incomplete scenes so that the movie can be rushed out as soon as possible:
“A quick shot that maybe takes two seconds would have to be redone 20 times to get the look that they want. I ended up taking over and reworking a large portion of other artists’ work — which is not how things usually go when you are working for other studios.”
Unfortunately, this type of stressful work environment, one that involves both upper-level micromanagement and a lack of direction, is not at all uncommon with MCU movies. A similar report was released in July 2022, where anonymous artists said that Marvel is pushing their talents and abilities to an unhealthy brink. However, it seems to have gotten worse since that report instead of better, as that report’s subject said that they often averaged 64 hours a week on a Marvel film. With “Quantumania,” that average allegedly ballooned to 80 hours a week.
If this is not indicative of a major problem, then what possibly could? One of our biggest criticisms against “Quantumania” was its visual effects, and they are absolutely not worth the crunch put against these underpaid and overworked artists. No project, not even the Oscar-nominated “Wakanda Forever,” is worth this, and we can only hope that Marvel makes significant changes to their post-production work soon. Otherwise, we could be facing a major reckoning.