The merging of two iconic characters, Deadpool and Wolverine, into a single film created one of the most anticipated cinematic events in 2024. Fans of the X-Men universe were eager to see how the sardonic, irreverent Wade Wilson (Deadpool) would collide—both literally and metaphorically—with Logan’s gruff, brooding Wolverine. Bringing this explosive dynamic to life required a complex level of artistry, and at the forefront of this task was the visual effects powerhouse Framestore.
No strangers to either the MCU or the ‘merc with the mouth’, Framestore’s creatives brought skill, flair and high-octane action to this hotly-anticipated box office smash. Work included the ambitious ‘oner’ in which Deadpool and Wolverine cut a bloody swathe through the rampaging Deadpool Corps; Cassandra’s skin-crawling telekinetic powers and CG augmentation to the beloved Dogpool. In addition to final VFX and animation, Framestore Pre-Production Services (FPS) delivered the entirety of the film’s previs work, led by Visualisation Supervisor Kaya Jabar.
Framestore provided pre-production services—previz, on-set support, techviz, and postviz—to final VFX. Overseen by VFX Supervisors Matt Twyford (Loki), Robert Allman, Arek Komorowski, and João Sita, the VFX team delivered 420 supremely complex shots, building on the groundwork laid by Framestore’s Pre-Production team (FPS), led by Senior Visualisation Supervisor Kaya Jabar.
The FPS team was the film’s sole pre-production services collaborator, delivering 900+ shots. The VFX team contributed to several key sequences, including the brutally funny opening title and the gripping third act. This involved executing the cameo-filled Deadpool corp and Oner sequences and orchestrating the climactic destruction of the Time Ripper machine, animating Dogpool’s performance, creating dozens of digi-doubles, building an expansive urban environment, and delivering a plethora of VFX, ranging from a hand passing through Paradox’s head, gallons of blood simulations, plasma energy, and Framestore’s signature ‘spaghettification’ FX.
Deadpool & Wolverine was directed by Shawn Levy from a screenplay he wrote with Ryan Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Zeb Wells. The Production Visual Effects Supervisor was Swen Gillbergand, and the Visual Effects Producer was Lisa Marra. As part of our ongoing coverage of films in the lead-up to the Oscar Bake-off on January 11, we spoke with Framestore’s London Visual Effects Supervisor Matt Twyford.
In our fxguide breakdown, Matt Twyford dived into two of the film’s most standout VFX moments: the surreal “fingers through the face” sequence and the scene-stealing CGI enhancements for Peggy, the film’s ugliest-yet-most-adorable dog. Both moments showcased Framestore’s ability to merge technical precision with artistic flair, creating visuals that were not only technically complex but also deeply connected to the film’s story and characters.
The “Fingers Through the Face” Sequence
In VFX shot that felt utterly unprecedented, the scene where Cassandra’s hand penetrates a character’s face was a defining moment in Deadpool & Wolverine,. According to Framestore’s VFX Supervisor Matt Twyford, the sequence was always envisioned as a visceral, photorealistic effect.
“Our only reference was a single comic book frame,” Twyford explained. “It was just enough to give us the creative direction we needed—fingers intersecting through the skin but not the bone, interacting with facial orifices like the mouth and eye sockets. The challenge was making this look completely real on a fully performing actor.”
The team began by building an ultra-high-resolution digital double of the actor using a Clear Angle scan rig, capturing every detail down to individual pores. “The system has over a hundred lights instead of just a single flash, you’ve now got the controlled light direction,” Twyford explains. “So it’s a 180 frame – different light angle, light burst, which allows you then to get all the normals and extract the normal mats from the skin down to poor level” Twyford commented that it was very easy to work with Clear Angle Studios. “We’ve got a close link with them. They fed back to us, we fed back to them, but the quality of the material was stunning. Our first models were just absolutely amazing for the faces.”
But the real magic lay in animating the interaction between the hand and the facial skin. Framestore decided to move much of the skin distortion work from simulation into animation, allowing the team to preview results earlier in the production process and ensure client confidence.
“We didn’t want to wait until the back end to show results,” Twyford noted. “By animating the skin distortion early on, we could present rough renders to the client quickly, gaining approval on the gross motion before adding finer details like tension maps and subsurface effects.”
The final result? A mesmerizing blend of realism and stylization, where skin stretched and reacted with unsettling believability. Subtle details, like hemoglobin redistribution based on skin tension, added to the illusion. “It was a balance between anatomical accuracy and Marvel-esque visual logic,” Twyford said. “The goal was to make it visually stunning without breaking the audience’s immersion.”
Peggy: The Scene-Stealing Dogpool Canine
On the lighter side of the film, Peggy—a real-life dog and proud titleholder of the UK’s ugliest dog—stole the show. Framestore worked extensively with Peggy on set, capturing her unique look and mannerisms, including her perpetually hanging tongue, to ensure authenticity in her digital double.
“Peggy performed brilliantly on set,” Twyford said. “She did the stunts, the jumps, she worked with blue screens and even handled pyro effects like a pro. She was fantastic.” While 90% of Dogpool was live-action, for certain sequences, such as adding goggles and enhancing her expressions, the team relied on her digital counterpart.
The VFX team designed and rendered Dogpool’s goggles late in production, adding a playful yet functional element to her character. Using Framestore’s proprietary renderer, Freak, they achieved realistic fur interactions and magnified reflections in the goggles, all while maintaining Peggy’s signature look. “The goggle idea actually only came really quite late on, probably less than two months before delivery,” he recalls. “There was a little discussion about, let’s magnify her eyes, let’s have that slightly googly eyeglasses effect. And because we are using the physics-based render, we had to do that using the thickness of the glass and the refractive index, which actually proved to be, as you can imagine, very difficult to control, but it is all through the renderer.”
“The goggles allowed us to amplify her personality,” Twyford explained. Frmestore kept her eyes true to her natural appearance but gave them life with subtle animations, letting her emotionally connect with the audience in key moments.
Crafting Iconic Moments
For Framestore, Deadpool & Wolverine was a perfect platform to showcase the team’s ability to blend creativity and cutting-edge technology. While the film was filled with massive set pieces and intricate effects, it was the smaller, character-driven moments—like Cassandra’s surreal power display and Peggy’s charming antics—that stood out.
As Twyford put it, “What Framestore loves doing, what we love doing, is the different stuff. That’s what we put ourselves forward for. And because that’s what our artists love, they all demand the tricky stuff and the hard stuff. In the end, it was difficult and hard and very complex, but it was also very Marvel!”
Framestore actually has four films shortlisted for the 2025 Best Visual Effects Oscar: Wicked, Civil War, Deadpool & Wolverine and Gladiator II. These films showcase everything from world-dominating fantasy, epic character animation, blockbuster superhero action and gritty, documentary-style realism, these projects highlight the breadth of Framestore’s creative and technological skills. Wicked, Deadpool & Wolverine, Civil War and Gladiator II all be presented at the ‘bake-off’ stage on January 11, 2025. The five final nominations will be announced on January 17. Framestore’s upcoming slate of projects includes How To Train Your Dragon, Wicked pt. 2, The Wheel Of Time s3, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, The Gorge, F1 and Three Bags Full.