Digital Domain Brings Water, Fire and New MCU Characters to the Climactic Battle in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever'
Brie Clayton December 7, 2022
0 Comments
VFX Work Included an Army of Talokanil, the Introduction of Ironheart, the Midnight Angel Armor and the New Black Panther in Action
In Marvel Studios' latest feature, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, two worlds collide with brutal results. The technologically advanced Wakandans and the fierce warriors of Talokan fight it out on the high seas, while a decisive battle between the new Black Panther and the Talokanil leader, Namor, takes place in the desert. With effects provided by Oscar-winning VFX studio Digital Domain, the pivotal confrontation is the climactic note to one of the most emotionally charged films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and offers a visually spectacular finale unlike any other.
From the moment Marvel Studios approached us about Wakanda Forever, we knew it was going to be a special project, built on emotion as much as visuals, said Hanzhi Tang, Digital Domain VFX supervisor on the film. But it was also an ambitious film that introduced several major characters to the MCU, along with an army of amphibious superpowered warriors. That let us get creative and use everything from our most sophisticated tools to hand-crafted techniques.
The Battle for Wakanda
Digital Domain's work on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever focused almost entirely on the film's finale, which begins in the Atlantic Ocean aboard a futuristic Wakandan stealth ship known as the Royal Sea Leopard. To create the ship's deck, the filmmakers utilized an elevated, open-air stage, 60-feet long by 75-feet wide, built on a mechanical rig 20-feet off the ground. The full set was then surrounded by blue screens, leaving the rest of the Vibranium-covered ship, ocean and backgrounds to be created by Digital Domain, using Maya and Houdini.
Throughout the fight, the Talokanil continuously scale the hull while battling the Dora Milaje, which led the filmmakers to build a second, vertical stage covered in handholds for the stunt performers to climb. Digital Domain digitally removed the physical handholds, smoothed out the surface of the ship and replaced the stunt performers' hands with CG versions that appeared flat against the metal. It then animated the hands to include movement. Once on the deck, the Talokanil stunt performers were required to wear shoes for safety reasons, which led artists to replace the footwear with bare CG feet.
To convey the true scope of the fighting, the filmmakers needed to depict an epic battle as the two sides fought to determine the future of the surface world. With a limited number of stunt people available, Digital Domain also created full armies of Wakandans and Talokanil. Using Houdini's crowd system, the VFX team took the live-action footage and dramatically increased the number of participants from 20 stunt performers to hundreds of warriors across the deck and on the hull, and even more in the water.
The fighting continues until a massive underwater explosion - caused by hundreds of Talokanil hydrobombs - rocks the Royal Sea Leopard. That triggered the physical stage to tilt to a 35-degree angle, causing a mixture of real performers and CG digidoubles to fall to the water below. The inclusion of grenades meant to function under water meant Digital Domain had to rethink, and even re-examine the physics of an explosion. The VFX team had to factor in the lack of oxygen, fire and shrapnel, then replace the outward expulsion with an implosion and subsequent shockwave.
Introducing the MCU's Newest Heroes
Along with creating two CG armies, Digital Domain also helped to introduce four new Super Heroes to the MCU, taken directly from the pages of Marvel comics.
During the battle on the seas, a small CG craft appears in the distance, heralding the arrival of Wakanda's newest guardians wearing the Midnight Angel armor. Working from concept art provided by Marvel Studios, Digital Domain went through several iterations of the two armored characters, ensuring that they had a look that was familiar, but also unique. Once the final look and style was determined, the supercharged Dora Milaje veterans Okoye (Danai Guira) and Aneka (Michaela Cole) are introduced in full armor as digidoubles, flying over the water and into battle.
Midnight Angels
The fight on the Royal Sea Leopard also features the introduction of another character that will have a lasting impact on the future of the MCU: Ironheart. Early in the film, audiences are introduced to Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), who acts as a major focal point throughout the film. Her official introduction as Ironheart, however, occurs over the Atlantic Ocean. Building off of 2D artwork from Marvel Studios and a partial practical model built by Legacy Effects, Digital Domain developed the Ironheart armor primarily in Maya, including animations of the character both in the air and underwater.
One of the film's most important moments arrives when Shuri (Letitia Wright) is introduced as the new Black Panther. The reveal happens in the Jabari throne room shortly before the final battle, and features a digidouble of the new Black Panther dropping from a ship high above. Digital Domain then used another digidouble of the character as she runs and jumps on the hull of the Royal Sea Leopard, easily repelling Talokanil attackers.
The Blue Army
Building a Blue Army
Throughout Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the enigmatic Talokanil are seen in two distinctly different environments, with different looks to match. While in their natural environment underwater, they appear no different from the average human, but on the surface they take on a blue coloration. To create this look, the performers wore full-body blue makeup, and recei
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
13/06/2026
Latest expansion pack includes 252 presets
Devious Machines have recently introduced another expansion for their powerful multi-effects plug-in, Infiltrator...
13/06/2026
Create custom DAW/plug-in controllers using prompts
MetaGrid have recently introduced an all-new AI Builder function to their touchscreen-based control surf...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production, Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it has given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what o...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First-Look Images from Villaflor, Santiago Mitre's New Film
Entertainment
12 June 2026
GlobalArgentina
Link copied to ...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Cross the Boundaries of the Real World into the Spirit Realm i...
12/06/2026
With John Daro, DI Colourist at Warner Bros. Water Tower Color Tuesday 23 June, 10am-1pm or 3-6pm
Restar Corporation
Tokyo
Register here
John Daro is the ...
Digital Domain Brings Water, Fire and New MCU Characters to the Climactic Battle in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' 
