Dan DeLeeuw makes his directorial debut with the latest episode of the second season of ‘Loki’. But the filmmaker is anything but a Marvel newcomer. Following his effects work on blockbusters like “The Rock” and “Armageddon,” DeLeeuw was one of the key people responsible for the visual effects on five 2013 MCU adventures, including the critically acclaimed “Avengers” double “Infinity War” and “ Endgame”.
During the reshoots of ‘Endgame’ as well as ‘Eternals’ and ‘Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania’, he also tried his hand at more action-packed scenes as a second-unit director. Becoming lead director of an MCU series was just the logical next step, DeLeeuw explains to us when we meet him for a virtual interview.
In the conversation, the effects specialist also talks about an easter egg about a relatively unknown Marvel villain and the background of the prominent McDonald’s appearance. He also reveals what the second “Loki” episode from Season 2 features the sci-fi highlight “Children of men“has in common…
The next step for a Marvel veteran
Dan DeLeeuw: (laughs) I think the new branch for me is directing.
Dan DeLeeuw: It was something I was working towards. When it comes to effects, you also want to tell a story by creating settings. They must be more than just an avenue for action. That’s how it started. And when we got to ‘Winter Soldier’ and ‘Civil War’, I was heavily involved in the pre-visualization of the action scenes and the computer effects scenes.
That made me want to get more involved in storytelling – and the Russo brothers were very helpful [die Regisseure von „Winter Soldier“, „Civil War“, „Infinity War“ und „Endgame“]. It was the natural next step. I have with [Produzent] Kevin Wright and the rest of the Loki team have already worked on the visual effects for Season 1. And then they finally invited me to direct an episode for season 2.
Dan DeLeeuw: ‘Loki’ is primarily Kevin Wright’s baby. He pushed that along with Tom Hiddleston. They started creating this world. As a producer, Kevin gives you a lot of freedom to come up with ideas. They work on the scripts in the writers’ room for such a television series. Then when they decide on the directors, they share the scripts with us and we provide input. It was really a very creative process.
The directors of the other episodes were also very open. We all got together in a room and talked about everyone’s stories – and at some point we got to the point where we brought in the actors. So it was a big team effort to make the relay what it is today.
Dan DeLeeuw: (laughs) That was our production designer Kasra [Farahani]. We were looking at locations and there was a huge room. And he said, “We’ll put up a big sign.” And I said, “Okay, but it can’t be too big.” And when we got there that day, it was just huge.
But what I especially liked about episode 2 was that there were a lot of scenes that focused on the acting. This allowed me to broaden my horizons a bit and experience the storytelling process in a different way, as previously I had mainly focused on effects and action scenes. And we had all these great actors in the room doing their part.
Who or what is Zaniak?
Dan DeLeeuw: Yes, he appears there in a short scene. You fall in love with a place and then suddenly someone says: “That was already in ‘Children Of Men'”…
Dan DeLeeuw: It is a large dry dock just outside London where boats are repaired.
Dan DeLeeuw: It’s a little Easter egg for Marvel fans. It was a way to introduce a character that many probably don’t know and would probably never get his own story in a movie or series.
Doctor Strange
Dan DeLeeuw: You’ll have to discover it for yourself. I won’t say where they are, just this: Many of us love “The Goonies.”
Dan DeLeeuw: He’s incredible. He has boundless energy. He is very funny and can recite many technical lines of dialogue in a way that makes you love him immediately. He can carry the weight of many scenes, especially when it comes to what’s happening in the TVA. And of course he’s someone you can ask what it was like working with Steven Spielberg. That’s just great.
Dan DeLeeuw: I fully support the unions who are fighting for their rights and fair pay. We absolutely must ensure better working hours for the artists. With “Loki” we were able to achieve some fantastic effects, but we also built many elaborate sets. Of course it helps in that respect.
Dan DeLeeuw: (laughs) The idea behind this is that you can play with nostalgia in this way. When we first talked to the crew about it, everyone had a story about McDonald’s. For example, I went camping with my grandparents every summer and we always stopped at this McDonald’s to eat pancakes.