Eternals is the most recent project to be released by Marvel Studios. Chloé Zhao’s cosmic epic has been enjoyed by fans around the world—even if critics were split over its quality.
While the film’s story added an insane amount of new lore to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s the post-credits sequences that did the most in that area.
One of them set up Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman and his journey to becoming the Black Knight. It even gave Mahershala Ali’s voice its official MCU debut.
The biggest of the two after-credits sequences, however, was the introduction of Harry Styles’ Eros and Patton Oswald’s Pip the Troll.
One of the two was entirely CGI; yes, it was the ugly drunk troll.
So how did Patton Oswalt contribute to the character?
Patton Oswalt's Pip the Troll Motion Capture
Comicbook.com talked to Matt Aitken of Weta Digital, where they learned some new information about Patton Oswalt’s debut as Pip the Troll in Eternals.
Apparently, the actor was so into the role that he performed everything while on his knees.
The actor wore a no-cap suit, and the VFX team “ended up replacing Patton Oswalt with Pip and the corridor:”
"We ended up replacing Patton Oswalt with Pip and the corridor, because we needed to do all that interactive portal light and extend it… But if you're looking at Eros, then his face will definitely be the face, but everything else is CG in those shots… he's there on his knees to get his head in the right height. But yeah, no he was there… He's fantastic. He's just great."
Pip the Ugly CGI Troll
Now, no offense to Weta Digital and their work on Eternals, but the CGI for Pip was among the worst that has ever come out of Marvel Studios; he was ugly, and not in an intentional way. It was obviously a very rushed addition to the film and certainly didn’t have the time it needed.
As for the character himself, Pip is an exciting addition to the massive roster of diverse and interesting characters that the MCU holds. Patton Oswalt is a gem, and Marvel has definitely picked the perfect actor for the role.
It’s even better that the actor is perfectly okay with doing motion capture on set—on his knees no less. Hopefully, that attitude remains when he eventually returns for future appearances; fingers crossed for Eternals 2.
Eternals is now playing in theaters worldwide.
