Written by Andreas Babiolakis

This comes as no surprise. Weeks after SAG/AFTRA voted to go on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) — and months after the Writer’s Guild of America kicked this movement off — the visual effects departments (VFX) at Marvel Studios have banded together to unionize for the first time ever. This also follows a decision made by animators at Cartoon Network, and Warner Bros. Animation to do the same. Marvel’s VFX crews’ reasons for this unionization are crystal clear after some of the more apparent qualms in recent Hollywood history, with reports of overworking conditions with little pay arising before the actual, rushed quality of CGI animation and effects in Marvel films became impossible to ignore.

What we’re seeing here is still only the beginning in my eyes. I believe that the world’s many industries are going through similar structures, collapses, and rebuilds. The working class has been complaining about the one percent — the small group of people that hold the majority of the financial worth in North America and/or worldwide — for many years now, but it is apparent that everyone has held out for long enough. After numerous recessions, career instabilities, and cutbacks in favour of cheaper, worse shortcuts (either by having fewer employees do more for less money, or by implementing tech-based solutions that terminate jobs entirely), everyday people have had enough.

In Toronto, employees at the Metro grocery store chain have been striking in solidarity since the end of July with no end in sight over poor wages and exhausting work conditions, with one employee being particularly outspoken about how she had to sell her house despite having worked at Metro for nineteen years and having a full-time schedule; meanwhile, Metro made record profits in 2022. Worldwide similar events are happening. I completed my Bachelor’s Degree at York University, whose teaching staff went on strike twice during my time there: I know all about this sort of thing. It’s clear that the working class has been toyed with for many years, but there’s no time as clear as now when many of us are still suffering after the economic repercussions of the pandemic, with AI and tech breathing down our necks; meanwhile, the rich keep getting richer, and they’re too stupid not to flaunt their fortunes as openly as possible, with rockets going into space for mere seconds just because, and billionaires challenging each other to streamable fights because they have nothing better to do.

So it’s true that the working class and its members have been furious and are beginning to band together, but I also believe that this movement in the film industry is pressuring studios and producers into responding more quickly all while acting as a precedent for industries worldwide. With Marvel’s VFX crews making a statement, this sort of situation becomes incredibly difficult to ignore. Enough people misunderstand SAG/AFTRA’s stance since they think it is only the rich celebrities complaining (meanwhile, they are fighting for the millions of other actors that aren’t nearly as well-known or wealthy). I think we can all agree that the visual effects in Marvel films have gone to shit. This also comes as no shock when Disney and Marvel have been pumping out far too many film and television releases each year, all with the same formulaic stories and tropes. One formerly dependable strength these films had were their fascinating effects, but when She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has God-awful visuals that make an already-rushed series impossible to take seriously, or Thor: Love and Thunder is actually hilarious only when its effects are as off as they are, something is amiss. Marvel isn’t for everyone, but they were at least a showcase of technical wizardry, and they aren’t even that anymore.

Of course, it was easier to blame the artists than the studios and producers at first, but it was quickly apparent who is truly at fault here. In the same way all of us filmgoers are pressured with more tasks and hours and the same or less pay (especially when we work from home and people don’t understand what working hours are anymore when they email us in the evening for an urgent matter), those that work hard on our entertainment are being burned out in the same way. Those that didn’t do their due diligence with the other Hollywood strikes cannot turn a blind eye to this, especially when the evidence is before our very eyes.

To the detriment of the hard-working VFX crews, Marvel films and series are looking worse and worse (obviously matching the quality of these shows themselves, but it’s already obvious that the VFX team isn’t the only one being exhausted). The problem is we live in an era where anything is accessible at any time, and demand has never been higher. Studios and producers only see the turnout of mass-volume production and it shows. Barbie wasn’t even released yet and Mattel saw dollar signs and the need to have an entire cinematic universe. Why?? We didn’t even know if Barbie was going to be a hit yet. Well, we could have predicted it would be (and it clearly was, passing the billion-dollar earnings mark worldwide this past weekend), but that doesn’t mean we need to be inundated with countless more projects of the same kind. That’s how the film industry wants to operate in a business sense nowadays: mass production of carbon copies because one instance worked. This way, algorithms can shove users of streaming platforms towards the plethora of similar releases, where they can be lost in a forest of homogeny for days, weeks, or years (lest we forget about the fortunes of rewatching the same releases). Studios and streaming services can bank off of those that get stuck in their algorithmic web. Art was never in the equation. The illusion of choice continues to permeate.

With AI being able to churn out mundane crap at lightning speed (it’s clear that greedy producers don’t care about quality, as long as they get their money), the future of many industries is frightening. With many employees unionizing and going on strike, the higher-ups may finally hit that financial brick wall that will have them second-guessing their decisions. Right after the pandemic’s economic hit, I don’t think many money-driven producers and studios will want to incur another slumber. With Marvel’s VFX team taking the stage, I believe the masses are represented more than ever during 2023’s ongoing shifts. This past decade, Marvel has been incredibly successful to the point that non-franchise or superhero films have been hurting and keeled over in Marvel’s shadow. Many mainstream moviegoers have been attending these films as escapism: to avoid their own real-life concerns for a few hours. The working class can see themselves in these kinds of artists if they didn’t with the other unions before (even though I feel like they easily could have).

What will happen (in case it wasn’t already, and I believe it has been) are more strikes across many industries. Music hasn’t done much to stop Ticketmaster or streaming monopolies from destroying the income of musicians worldwide, but that may change. Ignoring the entertainment industry, workers from all walks of life are clearly tired of being taken advantage of. Businesses everywhere will come to a standstill if they don’t predict these strikes and make the proper amendments ahead of time; let’s be honest, they likely will play dumb until it is too late. With the elite wanting to squeeze out every penny until the last available drop, I can only imagine many similar strikes will take place (and they will probably last longer than a little while as well). In 2023, we may say “Avengers, assemble!” to this news as we all band together and fight for affordable living and stability in an increasingly-difficult societal climate. Nearly fifty years ago, we were saying something else:

Sure, the elite may pivot a bit to meet demands before they pull the wool over the eyes of billions of people again. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone was being considered for good? I can only imagine ruthless fights for better living and work conditions for the foreseeable future, especially when entertainment — our escape from it all — is stuck in a stalemate in many different ways. When the illusion wears off, we’re left staring at the ugliness of society, and it’s hard to believe in cinematic magic when you can see the awful CGI results of employees being pushed to their limit with zero give to breathe. We no longer see superheroes, creatures, or the impossible. We see ourselves being exploited for the world to see, as the rich profiting off of us don’t even care how blatant it is anymore.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.

Marvel and the VFX Union: It's Time to Assemble

Written by Andreas Babiolakis