Meera Menon Compares Ms. Marvel's Pre-CGI Stunts To Star Wars - Exclusive

By now, "Ms. Marvel" fans have seen more than a few epic CGI scenes throughout the series' first four episodes. Between Kamala Khan's (Iman Vellani) epic powers, her vividly artistic daydreams, and Bruno's hardcore tech, "Ms. Marvel" is one of the most cinematically stunning MCU shows we've seen to date.

Episodes 1 and 6 directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah told us that they pitched the living art shown in the first episode of "Ms. Marvel" to Kevin Feige. Of course, that's not the only CGI the series boasts. So how exactly did directors like Meera Menon (Episodes 2 and 3) and the rest of the cinematography and editing teams manage to achieve the show's incredible special effects?

During an exclusive interview with Looper, Meera Menon revealed how the special effects in "Ms. Marvel" reminded her of "Star Wars" pre-CGI and shared what goes into creating these scenes that look quite ridiculous in the moment.

"Ms. Marvel" features several mid-air stunt sequences, and Meera Menon shared a little of what those moments looked like behind the scenes: "Without the CGI, it would look very silly. I'll say that." 

Many sci-fi, superhero, or fantasy scenes tend to look similarly bizarre and ridiculous without the special effects — and as it turns out, there's another series that Menon recalled upon seeing the pre-CGI "Ms. Marvel" scenes. She added, "I remember in film school, one of my sound professors worked on 'Star Wars,' and he showed us a scene without sound design. It looked like tin cans rolling down cavernous hallways. R2-D2 seemed like a toy without sound design."

Fans might not realize that most of the CGI-heavy sequences in movies and films have multiple components that blend real sets, separate audio, and blue screens together when editors cut the final product. "When Kamala is saving the little boy from dangling on the edge of the mosque, that whole sequence ... Some of it was filmed on location. Some of it was filmed on a sound stage, entirely on [a] blue screen. Some of it was filmed on a set that was half-built," Menon explained. "There were so many different sets that that sequence was built on that were stitched together into one cohesive thing. If you saw the raw material of that, it wouldn't even make sense. You'd be like, 'Where is she standing? What is she doing?' It's so technical at that point." 

Well, they don't call it movie magic for no reason, and both Marvel and Lucasfilm are two of the best in the biz.

New episodes of "Ms. Marvel" stream Wednesdays on Disney+.