Marvel's VFX Artists Assemble - Vote To Unionize Against Harsh Workplace Conditions

With the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists on strike at the same time, the world is watching as the collective backbone of Hollywood demonstrates that enough is enough. Their demands include better pay, improved working conditions, and protection against the misuse of artificial intelligence, and they're willing to go above and beyond to secure them. Seemingly inspired by this near-unprecedented level of entertainment worker action, Marvel visual effects artists are well on their way to taking control of their careers as well.

As reported by Vulture, Marvel VFX artists are banding together in hopes of gaining union representation under the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. Marvel's on-set production crew consisting of over 50 workers is calling for this move with the hope that the election concerning their membership will take place by the end of August. "This is a historic first step for VFX workers coming together with a collective voice demanding respect for what we do," said Mark Patch, a VFX organizer for IATSE, who noted that for far too long, VFX artists haven't enjoyed the same protections and benefits as their fellow contributors to the entertainment landscape.

Should the vote go through and Marvel's team is accepted into IATSE, hopefully, it would mean the end of Marvel Studios' mistreatment of its VFX staff.

Even in the post-"Avengers: Endgame" era, the Marvel Cinematic Universe remains one of the hottest commodities in the entertainment world. Fans still flock to the movies and switch over to Disney+ whenever a new entry arrives, and they're still popping up left and right. For several years now, the MCU has maintained a pretty hefty slate of television shows and movies, shrinking the gaps between them dramatically. Thus, the VFX artists tasked with bringing Hulks to life with stunning realism, de-aging heroes and villains alike, and giving moviegoers big, bombastic battles have been worked to the bone and grossly underpaid.

During a chat with Vulture back in July 2022, a Marvel VFX artist highlighted the troubles of working on MCU productions. In addition to having to crunch to get one project done before the next arrives, Marvel's VFX team has to constantly deal with last-minute changes from higher-ups and make creative decisions with certain scenes due to a lack of proper guidance, resulting in some fights and action scenes appearing out of place. As if these issues weren't enough to put some serious strain on VFX artists, as seen with the divisive title sequence of the Disney+ series "Secret Invasion," Marvel Studios has begun toying with A.I. — a tool that could evolve to take VFX jobs away on a massive scale.

All of this is to say that Marvel VFX artists gaining union protections is long overdue. We'll have to wait and see what becomes of their push to join IATSE in the coming weeks.