The ending of Avengers: Infinity War will be remembered for years to come, a somber dirge that boldly left its audience distraught as they left the theater. But while the deaths of literally half of the Marvel Cinematic Universe were a punch to the gut, the one that his everyone in the heart was Spider-Man’s. In a new interview, the film’s VFX specialists explain why Spidey took so long to die in Tony Stark’s arms.
In a new interview with ScreenRant, lead VFX supervisor Matt Aiken of Weta Workshop revealed that Spidey is actively fighting his disintegration, crying in his mentor’s arms that he doesn’t “wanna go.” While most of the MCU heroes who died in Thanos’s genocide died quickly, like Black Panther, the Falcon, and Groot (Oh God, Groot), Spider-Man put up the most resistance.
“Spidey’s really fighting it. He definitely doesn’t want to go and he’s fighting,” Aiken told ScreenRant. “He’s incredibly powerful, so he’s able to withhold it for a lot longer than some of the others, but in the end he can’t withstand it.”
The Russos’s directing can also take some credit for the scene’s emotional impact. Unlike the other MCU heroes, Spidey’s death was shot in tight close-ups, with Tom Holland’s face taking up most of the IMAX real estate. “We had to make sure that it worked really, really well, because it was so drawn out, and so it had to withhold very high levels of scrutiny because we were holding right on Spidey’s face over Tony’s shoulder,” Aiken said.
You did good, kid.
But even before the film was released, Aiken knew Spidey’s heartbreaking death would work so well for Marvel audiences. “Nobody at Weta could watch that,” he admitted. “The first few times we watched that we all choked up, it’s an incredibly powerful performance and key moment in the film.”
Even though the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming begins shooting this summer, it’s difficult to imagine just how the MCU can bring back its youngest, most heartfelt Avenger. 2019’s Avengers 4 just can’t come fast enough.
Avengers: Infinity War is in theaters now.
