In our latest fxpodcast, we sit down with Wētā FX Senior VFX Supervisor Guy Williams to unpack the studio’s spectacular work on DC’s Superman. Reuniting with director James Gunn and production VFX supervisor Stéphane Ceretti, Wētā FX took on some of the film’s most ambitious sequences, ranging from a colossal fire-breathing Kaiju rampaging through Metropolis to a mathematically-inspired pocket universe rendered in billions of cubes.
The Glenmorgan Square Kaiju showdown
One of the film’s centerpieces is an approximately 100-shot sequence in which Superman teams up with members of the Justice League to battle a 350-foot-tall Kaiju in downtown Metropolis. In the podcast Williams describes, “The Kaiju was a blend of procedural and painted textures so we could make it work equally well in wide aerials or extreme close-ups.”
Transforming Cleveland into Metropolis required a super-high-resolution city build covering a two-block radius around Glenmorgan Square. This allowed for both large-scale destruction and nuanced interactions, such as characters brushing past debris in fully CG shots. Hair and cape simulations for Superman, Mister Terrific, Green Lantern, and Hawk Girl were tuned to interact correctly with the simulated wind and airflow in the scene.
Pocket Universe & the river Pi
In one of the film’s most visually striking departures, Superman enters a Pocket Universe, an alternate reality defined by darkness, crystalline metallic structures, and a mesmerizing River Pi. The environment’s forms were generated procedurally via a custom Houdini script based on mathematical growth patterns, creating structures that felt alien yet cohesive. The River Pi itself was rendered in Wētā FX’s Manuka renderer, instancing billions of cubes across a fluid simulation to create a dazzling interplay of motion and light.
Other highlights in this episode include Williams discusses the need for 400,000 roll-on deodorant balls (!) and how the success of these sequences relied on a tight integration of Wētā FX’s procedural world building, complex simulation pipelines, with an artist-led approach to detail.
Beyond Metropolis: raptors and oners
Not every set piece was about cosmic geometry or Kaiju destruction. At Fort Kramer, Mister Terrific takes on a pack of raptors in a 2,000-frame, two-minute oner. The shot seamlessly merges three separate plates filmed over two days, requiring meticulous lighting and shadow work to maintain visual continuity.
Listen to the full podcast to hear Guy Williams discuss breaking technical boundaries, collaborating with James Gunn and Stéphane Ceretti, and why sometimes the hardest challenge is making the unbelievable feel real.