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Last year's Thor: Love and Thunder was the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to make use of StageCraft virtual production tech, which was first popularised through its use on Disney's Star Wars series The Mandalorian.

StageCraft effectively replaces traditional green screens with a baked-in, digitally produced backdrop which the actors can see and react to.

It's mind-bogglingly impressive tech which grants actors and directors many on-set advantages, even if it's also a tool that, like any other, has its own pros and cons.

And Love and Thunder proved that StageCraft was better used sparingly, as many criticised the film's environments for feeling too small, barren, and very obviously restricted by technical and spatial limitations.

Similarly, the more recent Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was dinged for excessively relying on it, and so many were concerned when it was initially reported that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 would also be using it.

Thankfully director James Gunn himself revealed back in 2021 that the film wouldn't be using Stagecraft at all, due to its sets being too big to accommodate the tech.

And doesn't the film look so much better for it? The combination of vast, expansive soundstages and real-world locations lend Guardians Vol. 3 a tactile quality which simply can't be replicated by the more sterile confines of a small virtual production setup.

And again, StageCraft is an astounding piece of kit when used appropriately, but the fact that Gunn opted not to use it on his trilogy-capping superhero epic is very telling.