This month Agents of SHIELD: Case Files is looking back at Captain America: Civil War, so it seems only proper that MCU: Location Scout reveals some of the filming locations from that film, specifically Lagos, Nigeria.
LOCATION: VARIOUS (See Below)
SHOW: Captain America: Civil War
It was probably my unbridled enthusiasm for the third Captain America film that lead me to originally conclude that the opening scenes were actually filmed in Lagos, Nigeria. Not really knowing anything about the city, the imagery presented appeared to be accurate and believable. Didn’t Avengers: Age of Ultron go Johannesburg, South Africa to film one of its best fight scenes? So how come something didn’t feel right here?
Lagos was actually made of up locations from Puerto Rico and Atlanta. And through the magic of digital effects, they were stitched together seamlessly in a thrilling opening action sequence that is unrelenting. This week’s MCU: Location Scout will be looking at the Atlanta portions of that shoot only, but feel free to check out the great big MCU Map to see what was filmed (and where) in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The crash at the IFID gate shot in Atlanta – original plate.
The crash at the IFID gate shot in Atlanta – digital background replaced.
The street on which the garbage truck drove towards the IFID.
The first location in Atlanta is the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center (395 Piedmont Ave NE, Atlanta) standing in for the Institute For Infectious Diseases (IFID). This auditorium and courtyard off of Piedmont ST NE and Currier St NE served as the location for all the exterior filming and stunts when Cap and his team attempt to stop Crossbones and his mercs from stealing a biological weapon.
The Atlanta Civic Center, Atlanta, GA.
The sequence starts with a heavily laden garbage truck heading West on Currier St towards the IFID gates, which were built specifically for this film. The backgrounds and several of the store fronts on Currier were all digitally replaced to make it look like a Nigerian town, and not Atlanta. From there the action moves into the courtyard in front of the main multi-storied building, where Cap and his team beat up mercs, crash into the 2nd level labs and just miss catching Crossbones. The aerial view of the IFID is clearly the Civic Center set into the background plate which uses elements of the San Juan Puerto Rico background shoot (in the lower right) with aerial images of the real Lagos, Nigeria (the Central Mosque behind the red crane in the upper-right middle).
Behind-the-scenes filming in the Gulch, Atlanta, GA.
The other major location is known as The Gulch and is an area near the Mercedes-Benz Stadium that is used as a parking lot and apparently filming. Cap and team follow Crossbones and his mercs to this open-air market in order to stop them from getting away with the biological agent.
Behind-the-scenes filming in the Gulch, Atlanta, GA.
The whole parking lot was redressed as a large market, with stalls, dirt floors and specific signage. The ability to film in an American city, close to their studios, definitely allowed a larger level of control to this complicated sequence. Again backgrounds were replaced as needed, and digital alterations were provided in other ways too. For example, the Richard B. Russell Federal Building, which is the large white building that was damaged when Crossbones exploded, was digitally moved closer to the “edge” of The Gulch so it was closer to the action.
Fans of other Marvel films may recognize some of the buildings and bridges in this location as the parking lot from Ant-Man and The Wasp where the Pym Technologies building was erected by The Ghost, before being stolen and taken to Fisherman’s Wharf.
Captain America: Civil War does a tremendous job of seeming like a film shot all over the world. It has a global and epic scope that serves its storyline well. And while they did travel to Europe to shoot some sequences, the majority of work was accomplished within a 30 mile radius of Atlanta with digital manipulation using plates from varied locations.
Other Captain America: Civil War articles on MCU: Location Scout – Vienna Bar | Avengers Facility
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Behind every scene in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a location. Some are iconic. Some are functional. Some are completely fantastic. But all of them are there to support the story.
Here at the MCU: Location Scout, Jovial Jay digs deep to uncover the real-world filming locations behind your favorite super hero films. From Iron Man to Inhumans and everything in between!
Having grown up on comics, television and film, “Jovial” Jay feels destined to host podcasts and write blogs related to the union of these nerdy pursuits. Among his other pursuits he administrates and edits stories at the two largest Star Wars fan sites on the ‘net (Rebelscum.com, TheForce.net), and co-hosts the Jedi Journals podcast over at the ForceCast network.