Thor and Captain America will be in 3-D

Marvel may have opted to not release its most recent film, Iron Man 2 in 3-D, but that doesn’t mean other films in slatted to be release won’t get a conversion. It’s been speculated for sometime now that Thor will be shot in 3-D. It has now been confirmed that both Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger will be released in 3-D, but will be converted in post-production.

According to The LA Times, director  Kenneth Branagh wants to convince fans that a 3-D conversion will add to the film. The director feels that “3-D could be the very good friend of story and character for a different kind of experience.” Branagh felt that “math and physics and way over my head” when talking about the conversion process. However, he now feels that “it’s another draft of the story that can reveal itself in a different way,” and is now “extremely excited” about a post-converting the film. The director even changed some scenes as to benefit from 3-D.

So, why wouldn’t they just shoot the film in 3-D as opposed to a post-conversion? Joe Johnston, who will be directing Captain America: The First Avenger, stated the he shot on a rig for a one-day test, and it was “a nightmare”, and restricted film-making options. Johnston was at first skeptical about post-conversion, and found it to be “and can be a little bit gimmicky.” However, he sees “it’s a new challenge and it’s exciting.”

While you may think that this was a last minute decision, but the special effects were created for the use of 3-D. “something that will help them avoid certain pitfalls,” said Marvel Studios President of Production Kevin Fiege. Don’t worry as both Fiege and Branagh are aware of how fans feel about post-converting the film. Fiege noted that  “an unprecedented amount of time” will be used in the conversion process and the films will benefit from then deciding to convert early on, rather than late in post-production.

Thor is set to be released on May 6, 2011. Captain America: The First Avenger will be released on July 22, 2011.