Photo: Eamonn M. McCormack (Getty Images)
It’s generally known that Marvel’s anti-spoiler tactics have caused much consternation among its performers. They’ll be given snippets of screenplays or fake-out sequences with layers of secrecy and deception. These security precautions are so strict that MCU veteran Elizabeth Olsen had no idea her character was “blipped” in Avengers: Infinity War. In a new interview with Variety, she reveals that they were only allowed to read the script “in an office, with a security guard, on one unique iPad,” so she instead had someone give her the plot’s bullet points.
“I mean, those films.” “I have no idea what’s going on,” she says. “I just got my pages, so I know what section of the plot I’m working on.” I have a story provided to me by the Russos about what happens in the rest of the film. And it’s not in the script for everyone to get blipped.”
“I didn’t realize I was being blipped away until we shot it,” Olsen continued. “We were told that that day. Scarlett [Johansson], Chris [Hemsworth], Chadwick [Boseman], and Sebastian [Stan] all walked to the van where they had a variety of equipment to show us pre-viz. We were all in this van when they said, ‘This is what’s going on.’ You’re going to vanish.’ And we say, ‘OK.’ It was terrifying. I mean, we had no idea. We expect the movie to conclude differently.”
In fact, Olsen had no idea “anything happened past” Vision’s (Paul Bettany) death sequence. “It’s incredibly humiliating shooting those types of things because, like, the world depends on you doing it,” she says, “and you’re like — [sticks out her hand].” I can’t believe I’m doing this in public. However, you have one hand out, which is stopping something with energy. Then there’s another hand pulling this phoney object from this dotted face. It’s also unpleasant and emotional.”
The odd dichotomy can be summarised as follows: “These movies are incredibly ridiculous, but you have to act your ass off for them to work.” “It’s just stupid,” Olsen adds. There’s a lot of nonsense. I’ve always wished they would just release a version of the film without any special effects so people could grasp how absurd it seems. And how amazing the work that goes into manufacturing these.”
By the way, as in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, that remarkable job includes totally including an actor after the fact. Olsen made headlines earlier this year when she said she had never met John Krasinski, one of the film’s co-stars: “But I also had never met John Krasinski. “I wasn’t joking!” She displays herself. “We shot it independently. I was working with the stand-in. I’m not even sure whether they realised he was doing it.” “Silly” is one word to describe this type of haphazard filmmaking!