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The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Shares Secret About Bucky's Vibranium Arm


Credit: Marvel Studios

It has been the iconic asset of Bucky, his vibranium arm, and we were all caught by surprise in Episode 4 of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier how easily Ayo of the Dora Milaje took it off of his body in a few seconds. Marvel finally gives us the behind-the-scenes secret of Bucky's arm through the VFX Supervisor of the series, Eric Leven.

According to The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Visual Effects Supervisor Erik Leven, the arm of Bucky was created by a combination of both a practical effect and some CGI touch-ups where the actor portraying Bucky, Sebastian Stan, would have to wear rubber sleeves with a solid fully-sculpted prop arm having some magnets which would later be enhanced through computer-generated animation.

In the featurette, Leven shared, "there were conversations. Should we have a bit of energy glow? Should there be a little purple Wakandan energy signature or light, just to help the audience figure out what's going on? We ended up doing a very, very subtle light in and around his shoulder and a very subtle light that travels down his arm. It's sort of a blink-and-you'll-miss-it kind of thing."

Leven said that in the scenes where Bucky's arm was off like that in Episode 4, Sebastian Stan would have to put his arm behind him and have the prop arm held by the character. All these undergone post-production through computer-generated animation to affect Bucky from losing his metal arm.

Leven also highlighted that the series was the first time the arm of Bucky was given a closer look. It could be remembered that his arm was first given by Hydra as the Winter Soldier. It was replaced by Wakanda, probably a creation of Shuri, with a vibranium arm, a strong metal used in the body of Vision, the shield of Captain America, and of course, on the Black Panther suit of T'Challa.

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is available on Disney+ and if the series excited you like WandaVision, catch the next release of the MCU on Disney+ with Loki on June 9, 2021.

Related: Anthony Mackie is Reportedly Getting A Major Pay Raise to Play Captain America 4

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