Time and time again, Marvel has dazzled us with some next-level movie magic that honestly might just be actual magic. The budget for each film in the MCU ranges between $100 million and $300 million, with the exception of Age of Ultron which cost $365 million, and the latest, Infinity War, at nearly $400 million. Now, the methods behind Marvel Studio's madness are stranger still. You might be surprised to see certain scenes without all the fancy backdrops, full-CGI make-overs, and flashy powers.

Have you ever wondered how exactly they make characters fly? How they choreograph massive battle sequences on normal New York City streets? How Doctor Strange creates those portals? How battles between full CGI characters looked so life-like? And most importantly... what the actors did during breaks? In short, it's a ton of green screen, motion capture suits, fancy acrobatics, and wires strong enough to hold a person in mid-air. Prepare to see another side of Marvel Universe, or rather, another universe entirely.

25 Two Actors, One Mutant

It's no secret that the key to realistic CGI is motion-capture. There are certain intricacies and quirks surrounding human movement that are just impossible to recreate using raw graphic manipulation. Generally, one normal-sized person is enough to get the movement data FX artists need. But for a character like Colossus, they needed not one, but two actors.

Greg LaSalle did the facial motion capture work for the character while Stefan Kapicic performed body capture and voice acting.

The facial capture specifically was done after Deadpool was finished filming, and the actor had to watch footage and capture his reaction to use with Colossus' model.

It seems strange that one actor would do voice acting and the other facial expressions, but sometimes mixing and matching skillsets is exactly what you need to create a unique character.

24 1995 Called, They Want Their Antialiasing Back

Before you ask, this isn't an Alpha release of the new Doctor Strange video game (although that would be pretty awesome). It's actually a CG simulation of what the final battle in the movie would look like. If you recall, you'll remember that our favorite Marvel wizard arrives on the scene a little too late to stop the bad guys from summoning an immortal demon god from another dimension.

Luckily, he uses his time to stone to reverse the damage. The resulting scene is truly extraordinary, with immense detail poured into every shot, all choreographed to run in reverse. This CG prototype was used to help plan such an ambitious undertaking. Once it looked good on a computer, it was executed on camera.

23 Didn't Know There Was This Much Green In The Marvel Universe

While several background scenes in most Marvel movies were green screen, it's interesting to note that Vision's costume was actually crafted for the film (minus the cape that could only sway so majestically through CGI magic).

There are a couple interesting things to note here, the first being the orange markers across the sea of green. These are used to help with depth and dimension when overlaying a detailed background, giving it a more realistic look. Another is the motion capture gear on Vision's face. He look cool now, but a layer of CG is used to give him that "robotic" look, as well as set the infinity stone on his forehead.

22 Director's Tutorial On Stage Combat

Here we have a fun shot of Ant-Man director Peyton Reed giving a little combat tutorial to Evangeline Lilly (playing Hope Pym) as Paul Rudd (playing Ant-Man himself) looks on with joy. In the background, you'll also see Lilly's stunt double Renae Moneymaker.

Her job is to do all the dangerous moves for her counterpart, saving damage to her own moneymaker (see what I did there).

It's always fun to see behind-the-scenes combat which always seems more lighthearted than the intense battles of the actual movie. This scene in particular is an exception, as the combat in the movie was also in good fun, and used as a tool to develop the "romantic" relationship between Ant-Man and Hope.

21 Size Matters

We really couldn't tell you why Hulk's model doesn't have any clothes on, but apparently it helps shoot some of the action sequences in the movie. This picture in particular was captured on set of Infinity War, which if you remember, doesn't really feature our favorite green hero (aside from Gamora, RIP) that much at all. As such, a more conservative

Pretty ironic how Hulk is always referred to as "big guy" in the movies. Then again, we can't see what Mark Ruffalo is currently looking at, something we only caught a glimpse of in Thor: Ragnarok...

20 I Am Groot

He may be famous for his work in The Chronicles of Riddick and The Fast and the Furious franchises, but Vin Diesel is also surprisingly popular for his rendition of Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy. Sure, it was only the one line, but it had to be recorded hundreds of times each with a different nuance or tone to convey the sentiment in the scene. He also recorded in different languages for international translations of the film. Diesel donned a pair of stilts in motion capture work for the character as well. You'd think he'd get tired of it all by the end, but the jacked actor has stated that it's been one of his favorite roles yet.

19 Now You're Thinking With Portals

Ever wondered how they made those awesome, seamless portals in Doctor Strange? Well the answer is magic green screen coupled with fancy lighting. A second background is overlaid digitally to show the source of the portal, while the actual set takes place at the destination. The ring of light provides the border, and CG sparks are added in to add some pizzazz to the whole affair. The little ledge Benedict Cumberbatch is standing on seems to provide a method by which the actor can more dramatically "jump" through the portal and land at his destination.

18 Taking Out Bad Guys In His Sleep

Probably one of the more impressive things a superhero can do is secure himself to the wing of a plane and trigger an explosion below him, thus propelling him upward towards a group of baddies, knocking them out instantly. Something less impressive that Ryan Reynolds had to do was lie down on a similar wing and hold on for dear life as two crew members gently rocked it back and forth to provide an illusion of force.

We'd like to think Reynolds took a little nap, saying "wake me when the scene is done."

He might be enough of a professional not to, but we wouldn't put it past Wade Wilson.

17 The Gang's All Here

There's nothing like cast camaraderie to foster creation of an incredible film. And here we have just that on the set of Infinity War with Tom Holland front and center in his motion capture suit for his character, Spider-Man. Aside from the dedicated crew, you might recognize a couple other people in the shot. On the right is Chris Pratt's double for Peter Quill, and just behind Holland is a very confused Robert Downey Jr in his own motion capture suit. Featured here are also co-directors/brothers Anthony and Joe Russo. It has been confirmed this duo will also direct the untitled next Avengers film, set to be released in May 2019.

16 A Most Brutal Sneak Attack

What a throwback to Thor's original look, before the revamped haircut and costume. Having already dispatched of one bad guy, here we see the Norse god about to bring down some pain on another Chitauri soldier (the aliens from the first Avengers film). Of course here, we just a see a poor extra in a motion capture suit about to act out a beatdown. You'll notice the camera getting a close shot on the right, and might even recall this scene from the film.

15 Like A Scene Out Of Braveheart

It would be fun to imagine that Marvel rented out an entire airport to shoot that large-scale battle in Civil War, but sadly it was all a movie set. Everything from the airport building to the airplane was digitally inserted. Here we get a glimpse of the moment as Team Captain America makes their charge towards Team Iron Man. We saw a vast field of battle in the film, but the actors didn't have much to work with except the trucks, four walls of green around them, and each other. Still, the scene still turned out fantastic.

14 Tony And Josh Bro-ing It Up

It's strange seeing mortal enemies pose as best friends. Here we have Robert Downey Jr. with Josh Brolin, the face and voice behind Thanos (not his body though, no human being could be that swole). Our view of the set is limited, but based on context we can tell that the two are currently filming scenes on Titan, Thanos' homeworld.

Fun fact about Josh Brolin: he was offered the role back in 2015 while he was filming Everest, and was the last role cast in Infinity War.

This may be the reason for  Thanos' slight changes in appearance compared to his short cameos in Age of Ultron and Guardians of the Galaxy.

13 Even Heroes Need Lunch Breaks

When scientists and wizards aren't quibbling over the metaphysical nature of reality, they like to sit down for a nice lunch together. Several things about this picture make it wonderful. To name one, Doctor Strange's love of spicy food is mentioned often in the comics, so what else would Benedict Cumberbatch be holding except a bottle of hot sauce? Also in the movie, when Tony and Bruce finally meet Strange and Wong, they are all on their lunch break which is rudely interrupted by Thanos' minions.

Wong mentions in the movie that he would go for a tuna melt, and we'd like to think on one of these breaks, Wong (the actor, they have the same name!) found what his character was craving on the crafts table.

12 Lunch Break's Over

In a refreshing change from the plethora of green screens, some exclusive photographs of Infinity War production show how an entire demolished New York City street was used for one of the first fight scenes. Giant black screens were set up around the perimeter of the set to prevent outsiders from seeing what was going on and possibly spoiling some of the film's key plot points.

We're quite jealous of the creative minds who got to create this realistically-destroyed set, but feel very sorry for whoever had to clean up all that rubble once shooting was over.

11 All Those Curls Finally Paying Off

The background might've been green screen. The helicopter might've been fake. But those biceps are 100% real. How did Chris Evans get so swole for his role? The actor reveals that it's a combination of free weight- and bodyweight exercises.

He threw in gymnastics and plyometrics to stay functional, but for the most part stayed away from cardio.

He mentions that building muscle is counter-acted by trying to lose weight, and his main goal was to put on size. I think we can all say: mission accomplished.

10 Free Fallin'

We don't see any wires, so we can assume this trio is currently in free-fall. The image is reminiscent of the scene from Infinity War where the Guardians of the Galaxy team up with Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange to take on Thanos. Near the end, their god-like adversary essentially puts gravity in flux and uses his Infinity Gauntlet to bring a literal moon crashing down on Iron Man. The intense scene took an impressive amount of CGI to pull off, but all the actors had to worry about was looking as photogenic as possible while jumping around green sets. We can at least say Drax pulled it off.

9 Poor Hawkeye

The subtext between Hawkeye and Black Widow was fairly apparent in the first Avengers movie, despite the former turning into a villain under Loki's control for half the film. The two are bonded over their shared history of combat, and while romance is only hinted at, it is their friendship that truly stands out.

Still, this picture is much funnier if we imagine everyone is in character. He may be wearing sunglasses and looking away, but we know exactly what Hawkeye would be feeling to watch a potential crush cozying up to the main antagonist of the film.

8  Why Do We Even Need Actors

Here we get a glimpse into the movie magic behind the battle between Thor and Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok. The actors usually film the close-up shots and more detailed sequences, which is then seamlessly merged with a full-on CGI battle. Everything happening so quickly and from a distance, coupled with advanced graphics software, creates a lifelike rendition of a very memorable scene. Still, every high-paced action sequence begins with bare 3D models and basic animation.

7 Rock, Papers, Scissors, Hammer, Fist

In another throwback to the OG Thor aesthetic (as far as the films go, at least), he's once again mid-combat. This time, rather than a motion capture suit, his adversary is donning hyper-realistic make-up and an outfit to match. Depending on the nature of the character, and the stunts they'll have to perform on camera, CGI and prosthetics are both options. When possible, creators opt for the latter; the extra effort and realism makes a huge difference on the big screen. More often than not, however, a combination of both is used.

6 Is This Your Background?!

Black Panther sure fooled most people with those gladiator-style duels used to determine the next king of Wakanda. We thought the actors signed waivers and fought on an actual cliffside, and that Chadwick Boseman genuinely took the fall for the sake of a realistic shot, y'know, because he's such a dedicated actor.

As it turns out, we were once again entranced by the black magic of artificial imaging. One might ask the difference between using a green and blue screen.

Generally, blue is better because blue is less prevalent in most skin tones and so it doesn't "spill" into the actors when the background is overlaid.

Blue also allows for better low-light shots. Still, with the increasing popularity of digital cameras (rather than film), green has proven to be the better color.