Andy Serkis Joins AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON!

Andy Serkis is no stranger when it comes to in motion capture, from the sneaky mischievous Gollum in the Lord of the Rings, to the iconic King Kong and the charismatic leader Oscar in the Planet of the Apes reboot films. Lately, it has been reported that he’ll be soon joining not just the cast of Star War’s seventh episode, but also the highly anticipated superhero ensemble film, Avengers: Age of Ultron.

On his participation for the said Marvel movie, he would be working with the production team as a consultant, finding other ways on bringing more depth at Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/Hulk in terms of the motion capture aspect. In the Daily Beast, he mentions on working with the studio and finding ways on improving it:

“The difference for Mark [Ruffalo] this time around is that the Imaginarium, which is our performance-capture studio in London that’s providing all the performance capture for the Avengers movie, is providing education,” Serkis says. “Previously, he would’ve walked onto a set and you’ve got Thor and all the other characters in their costumes looking magnificent, and then you’d have Mark in a grey motion-capture suit playing this enormous character, so it’s about giving the actor the right atmosphere and credibility for the performance, which we did in a number of ways. We had to educate the director that the actor owns the role, and what you get on the set is what you should be aiming to put into your cut as the final performance—with the rendering coming later on.”

The actor added, “Also, we worked with Mark in really grounding him and playing with the digital avatar before going on set so he could see himself as the Hulk before going onscreen, and we put weights and inhibitors on him to give him the sense that his arms were these big, giant wrecking balls, and so that his biceps wouldn’t intersect with his body. We equipped him. We also gave him a sound system and pitch-modulated his voice so you could hear the enormous Hulk roar coming out of these speakers, so the crew would go, ‘Jesus! That’s Hulk on set!’ It gives Mark the sense of feeling better, and if he feels better, then he’ll be more comfortable in the performance.”

That being said, there’s more than bringing the motion capture to the screen, but the importance of the character inhibiting on his/her atmosphere, Serkis’ contribution can bring a larger-than-life experience for a film that has an epic scope.

On his role in the film, characters such as Thanos(voiced by Josh Brolin), Ultron, a Klause Mercenary, and so on have surfaced from fans’ speculations, but the actor denied all of them and said:

“Um…I’d have to deny that character at this point, but I am playing a character. I was really thrilled that Whedon asked me to be involved. It’s fantastic. I’ve had a ball working with them, both as performance capture consultant through the Imaginarium, but also being asked to be in it. I can’t say anything more!”

Regardless of whatever role will he have, Andy Serkis will be a great addition to the series and its only a matter of time before his role gets revealed.

Avengers: Age of Ultron will be coming in theaters next year.