In 2023, Robin Hollander discussed Weta FX’s contribution to Cocaine Bear. Since then, he’s been involved in the Rebel Moon saga and the Goosebumps series.
Since beginning his journey at Weta FX in 2003 on The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Mark Gee has worked in several of the studio’s flagship productions, from Avatar to The Hobbit trilogy and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
How did you and Weta FX get involved on this show?
Mark Gee (MG): Weta FX had already worked on a couple of James Gunn projects, including The Suicide Squad with John Cena as Peacemaker. So, when the opportunity came up to work on the Peacemaker series, we jumped at the chance. I really enjoyed working on The Suicide Squad – the characters and James Gunn’s style were a blast! So, I signed on for Season 1 of Peacemaker and came back for more in Season 2.
How was the collaboration with VFX Supervisor Marten Larsson?
Robin Hollander (RH): We worked closely with Marten and loved it! He has an incredible eye, a very clear direction and is just an all-around lovely guy to be around. He put great emphasis on pushing every shot to be the best it could be, and I think the final results really speak for themselves.
MG: Collaborating with Marten Larsson was all about open dialogue. He’d turn over the shots and walk us through the story beats, and we’d come back with ideas for Eagly and the other CG characters to help tell that story. For the Quantum Closet, we spent a lot of time refining the portal’s look and feel together, since it was such a key story point. That overall back-and-forth really paid off. When James Gunn was shown the shots, we got an exceptionally high approval rate.
What are the sequences made by Weta FX?
RH: We did all the shots inside the Quantum Closet, including some – but not all – of the worlds hidden behind some of the doors. We also handled all shots that had Eagly, eagles & the fox in it, as well as some small Peacemaker digs work.
MG: Weta FX did every Eagly shot, including the iconic opening dance. We also brought to life the fox and mouse, and the eagle attack on Red St. Wild, and the surreal moments inside the Quantum Closet complete with the dramatic portal effects when it opens.
Weta FX is once again behind the visual effects of Peacemaker’s second season. What were the main goals for your team when returning to this universe?
RH: Season 1 established Eagly as a beloved and believable character, so it was paramount for us to not step on any legacy work but rather to build on it. With Eagly we did some housekeeping updates to get him into all of our feather/bird rig tweaks we’ve made through working on other shows, as well as refining shading to eke out more detail and control when dealing with the intricate feather systems on a bird. Marten was very particular on reading certain aspects of the feathers (e.g. the rachis in the feathers being dark enough in certain angles) so having that extra fidelity in our toolkit was really important. For the Quantum Closet it was really to make it feel like it was built as a set piece, while still maintaining artistic control over vanishing lines and composition. A lot of work went in to making it blend in, but not feel bland.
MG: For Season 2, one of our biggest goals was to preserve the visual identity we established in Season 1 while pushing things forward. This season introduces new characters like the fox and additional eagles, and of course Eagly returns as a fan favorite. We spent a lot of time refining our creature work, so these characters feel even more expressive and fully integrated into the story.
At the same time, we had to think about scale. Season 2 brought a much larger scope of work, especially with the Quantum Closet playing a bigger role, so we prioritized efficiency, streamlining workflows, and leveraging our tools to handle the complexity without compromising quality. Ultimately, it was about evolving the look and scale while staying true to the distinctive style we created in Season 1.
Eagly quickly became one of the show’s fan-favorite characters. How did you refine his design and animation to make him even more expressive and believable this season?
RH: I think most of what makes Eagly such a successful character is how James writes him into the story. We had an amazing animation team led by our Animation Supervisor Mark Smith, and he had a lot of fun playing out James’ ideas with Eagly. That’s what really comes through in season 2; Eagly’s character has even more space to spread its wings. The aforementioned updates to bring our Eagly rig into 2025 added the extra 10% I’d say.
MG: Eagly was already a fan favorite in Season 1, so for Season 2 we really wanted to take him to the next level. We kept his core design but refined the details – improved feather textures and shading, more realistic lighting, and updates to his rig for greater flexibility and control. Our biggest focus was on expressiveness, adding subtle eye movements, head tilts, and wing gestures so he feels emotionally connected to the story and his human counterparts, while keeping his performance authentically bird-like to maintain the believability that he’s a real eagle.
The show also introduces new creatures, including several birds and small animals. What was your approach to designing and animating them while keeping the show’s comedic tone?
RH: Besides Eagly, the fox was the main character that had a specific personality that we had to eke out – both in the build as well as in its performance. It’s cheeky and sly, and then meets a gruesome end. These shots were challenging to get right, especially for the unsavory demise of the fox. We weren’t sure initially how Marten would react, but when we showed him our first FX foam sim he loved it, haha!
Feathers are notoriously complex to render and animate. What kind of progress or new techniques helped you bring more realism and detail to Eagly’s look?
MG: During Season 1 of Peacemaker, we began experimenting with our new feather system, Apteryx. At that stage, it was still in early development, so all grooming still had to be done using our older system, Plumage. By Season 2, development on Apteryx had advanced, allowing us to introduce greater detail and variation in the feathers. However, the most notable advancement came with our solver system, Loki. This enabled us to layer feathers flat against one another, creating the seamless, contiguous surface often seen on bird bodies, a capability we lacked in Season 1, where we had to rely on shader and compositing tricks to approximate the effect. And with Apteryx and Loki working in tandem, we were able to achieve a level of realism and control that simply wasn’t possible in Season 1.
The series often mixes grounded moments with wild, almost surreal ones. How do you maintain visual consistency when switching between those tones?
RH: We were lucky in that the portal FX we were tasked with creating was somewhat consistent through the different means of getting into the Quantum Closet. So be it through a door or through a funky space purse, the general aesthetic remained on brand. Some other effects that emanate from within the portals then leaned heavily into that same language, which made it easy to keep a consistent look.
MG: One of the biggest challenges in balancing those grounded and surreal moments was making sure everything felt like it belonged in the same world. For the more surreal sequences like the Quantum Closet, we matched the CG extensions precisely to what was shot on set and paid close attention to the optical qualities of the photography so the transition between practical and digital was seamless.
At the same time, for characters like Eagly, the eagles and the fox, we focused on keeping their performances authentic to their species. Even when they’re expressive and connected to the story, they still move and behave like real animals. That grounding is what makes the surreal moments believable and emotionally resonant.
Peacemaker’s humor often depends on timing and physicality. How does that influence the animation and visual effects work, especially for digital characters?
RH: I think with Eagly it’s really the deadpan-ness that makes it so funny. He’s a cool dude and having the side eye as a design feature kind of made him funny from the get-go. But a lot of the comedic nuances really come down to Mark and his team; they did an amazing job finding the right language for Eagly.
There’s a key location this season that involves portals and otherworldly effects. Can you tell us about the creative and technical challenges of building that environment?
MG: In Season 2, we finally learn how the Quantum Closet ended up in Auggie Smith’s hands, and that reveal is a major story point. Creatively, the portal effect had to feel powerful and otherworldly but still fit within Peacemaker’s grounded aesthetic. We’d already established the infinite expanse inside the Quantum Closet in Season 1, but this was the first time audiences would see the portal itself. The production team started with concept art, but as we moved through early FX development, the design evolved.
In the end, we wanted it to feel like a controlled burst of energy – almost like solar flares erupting from the sun. Our FX team built layers of animated tendrils and plasma-like arcs peeling outward, mimicking magnetic fields snapping and reconnecting around the semi-circular case and expanding up the door frame. The big challenge was integrating that into the live-action plate. Interactive lighting was key; we match-moved the characters affected by the portal glow and ran interactive light passes for both the characters and the environment. FX output multiple element passes for the tendrils and arcs, giving Comp full control to dial in optical flares, glows, distortions, and lens imperfections to match the on-set photography.
The result is something visually striking designed to feel otherworldly yet grounded, perfectly reflecting Peacemaker’s mix of absurdity and realism.
Weta FX is known for its realism, but Peacemaker also leans into absurdity. How do you find the right balance between authenticity and stylization?
RH: That’s a great question! I think as always, we want to start with the ground truth; what would it look like if it were real? And then from there you can find extremes and play with those. There’s not one recipe that’s applicable for all shots, so it’s always a bit of trial and error. But I think that’s where having such a collaborative client really pays off. Someone who’s keen to lean into the silly, but with an understanding of why we chose that path and also how we got there. And then from there we refine until the balance feels right.
MG: As Robin says, balancing realism and stylization was all about knowing where to ground things. With Eagly, he’s funny and sometimes over-the-top, but he had to look and move like a real eagle for those moments to land, so we focused on authentic anatomy and behavior, then added personality in subtle ways. The Quantum Closet was the opposite – highly stylized, but it still needed to feel part of the live-action world. Matching the plate photography with lens quirks and lighting imperfections kept it grounded and believable.
Looking back on your work across both seasons, how do you feel Weta FX’s approach has evolved creatively and technically on Peacemaker?
MG: Across the two seasons, our approach certainly evolved. Creatively, we worked hard to keep the visual identity from Season 1 while expanding the world, refining Eagly and creating new creatures like the fox and additional eagles so they felt expressive but still believable.
On the technical side, Season 2 was on a much bigger scale, especially with the Quantum Closet playing a major role. That meant streamlining workflows and making the most of our tools to handle the added complexity without compromising quality, all while staying true to the aesthetic we established in Season 1.
How long have you worked on this show?
MG: Close to 11 months in total. It really took a big team effort to get the show across the finish line and seeing it all come together was really rewarding – the team did a great job!
What’s the VFX shots count?
MG: Weta FX completed 570 VFX shots over the 8 episodes.
A big thanks for your time.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Weta FX: Dedicated page about Peacemaker Season 2 on Weta FX website.
Marten Larsson: Here’s my interview of Marten Larsson – Production VFX Supervisor.
© Vincent Frei – The Art of VFX – 2026
