Top 10 Worst CGI in The MCU
#10: The Chitauri
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“The Avengers” (2012) This alien invasion was both a traumatic event for the heroes and a total eyesore to bystanders. Since there were tons of mindless Chitauri on screen at any given time, most of them lack the detail they needed to be truly menacing. Instead of living, breathing creatures, the majority of them look more like badly-rendered video game goons. It also doesn’t help that they comically overreact to any kind of impact. Every time one of them dies, we can’t decide whether to cheer or laugh at how ridiculous they look. At least their mercifully quick defeat means we don’t have to look at this early bit of Marvel CGI for too long.
#9: Yelena’s Explosive Attack
“Black Widow” (2021) When Yelena, Natasha and their family fight off tons of nameless enemies in the high-flying third act of this spy-thriller, there’s admittedly some great practical stunts. But a lot of the CGI is an utter assault on the eyes. In the end, Yelena gets the worst of it. When she blows up the helicarrier’s turbine in mid air, it is painfully obvious that she’s actually planted in front of a green screen. Even the wind effects can’t help sell how unrealistic the sky looks behind her. Maintaining realism amid CGI this horrible was more distracting than anything else. Although Yelena may have succeeded in her mission to take down the big bad, the aerial background failed to impress.
#8: Bucky’s Fall From Grace
“Captain America: The First Avenger” (2011) It’s an utter shame that one of Steve Roger’s most pivotal moments is difficult to rewatch. Not because it’s too emotional or anything like that, but due to its laughably bad visual effects. Sebastian Stan and Chris Evans completely sell the gravitas of Bucky’s fall to his supposed death. Unfortunately, they’re let down by a painfully obvious greenscreen that robs his fall of any real weight. The result is a scene that’s more unintentionally funny than it is dramatic. Thankfully, Bucky would eventually return and show off better CGI on his arm than anything we saw in his not-so-great fall.
#7: Clandestine Demise
“Ms. Marvel” (2022) The villainous Najma’s death left us feeling like the heroic Kamala Khan deserved a lot better. When a dangerous portal opens to the antagonist’s home dimension, she decides to close it to keep everyone safe. Najima proceeds to do so by touching a portal, crystalizing, and then crumbling into bone dust. This serious moment is undercut by the fact that the villain looks more like a cartoon character than a real person. Admittedly, creating compelling CGI for six episodes instead of a two hour film can’t be easy. But we sincerely hope there’s a dimension where Najma’s demise looks really amazing because they spent more time making it look real.
#6: Zero-Gravity Goose
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“Captain Marvel” (2019) Carol Danvers’ inaugural flight into the MCU sold the scale of her galaxy-shaking powers with some amazingly realized CGI moments. The same can’t be said for her feline friend Goose when it appears weightless. To be fair, portayling an alien Flerken disguised as a cat in zero-gravity was probably low on the priority list during the movie's production. But if Goose was going to be the runt of the litter, why even bother including it in the scene at all? Sure, their feline hijinks were a total bright spot, but the lack of texture in their fur in this scene was more creepy than adorable. Maybe they should’ve kept Goose offscreen until it needed to grab the tesseract.
#5: Pip The Troll
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“Eternals” (2021) It seems not even post-credit scenes are immune to bad CG. Although it’s barely a few minutes long, this teaser at the end of “Eternals” well overstays its welcome. The main reason it’s tough to watch is because of Pip the troll himself. He apparently lives under a bridge in the uncanny valley. Although the MCU has crafted tons of realistic mo-cap creatures before, Pip’s movements are incredibly stiff and unnatural. Even though he’s not even supposed to be the focal point of the scene, it’s hard to focus on his buddy Eros when the troll’s wonky effects keep distracting us. At least Patton Oswalt’s hilarious performance almost makes it worth it. Almost.
#4: Trailer She-Hulk
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“She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” (2022-) As soon as Marvel confirmed that their live-action She-Hulk would be portrayed with visual effects, fans wondered how the studio could consistently make her look good. The initial trailer wasn’t a great proof of concept. We can say that She-Hulk definitely looked green. Unfortunately, the poor texturing made the heroine’s stunning jade form look more like a poor cgi makeup job. Thankfully, Jennifer’s skin routine vastly improved by the time the series started airing. We can’t say that it’s absolutely flawless in every scene. However, any individual shot of the show easily puts the trailer to shame.
#3: Black Panther Vs Killmonger
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“Black Panther” (2018) While the climactic fight between cousins T’Challa and Killmonger should’ve been memorable for the epic family drama, it became infamous for bad CGI. Both characters look less like they’re wearing awesome panther themed-suits and more like extras on the set of 2019’s “Cats”. This is mainly because the cousins move in horribly unnatural ways and their bodies look rubbery. While the fight has many questionable moments, the worst visuals come when their suits start to deactivate. As more and more pieces of their suits fade away, the audience believes less and less in the shoddy effects here. It’s disappointing that a film brimming with stunning scenic imagery and excellent choreography has an ending that almost hurts to watch.
#2: Axl's Message
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“Thor: Love and Thunder” (2022) It’s almost impressive that the god of thunder’s fourth solo-film has a worse CGI scene than earlier entries of his own series. When Heimdall’s son Axl needs to send a message across the cosmos, he projects an image to his head to Thor on earth. But it's clear that the kid needs a lot more work using this power. The effects used to portray this projection look like they were ripped out of a low-budget nineties film. Not even director Taika Waititi’s cheeky infusion of humor can excuse a VFX scene that looks like a first draft. While we appreciate how awesome the movie’s big battle scenes look, it feels like they could’ve spent a lot more time on this small projection.
#1: Bruce in the Hulkbuster
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“Avengers: Infinity War” (2018) Maybe bad CGI was a bigger threat to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes than Thanos was in “Infinity War”. During the tense battle of Wakanda, Bruce is shoved into the Hulkbuster suit. The lighting around the suit doesn’t quite match the environment and makes it look worse than it did in “Age of Ultron”. But the true limitations of the CGI effects became apparent whenever Bruce let his helmet down. Each time he shows his face, it looks like Mark Ruffalo’s disembodied head is just floating atop of cheap effects. Overall, Banner and the Hulkbuster suit weren’t a great duo. Although the doctor worked out his issues in “Endgame”, we’ll never forget that he was the face of some truly awful CGI.
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