The villains wore special outfits that will allow technicians to overlay an image on their moving figures, completely altering their appearance. The technicians could make them look like anything, perhaps even green pointy-eared aliens called Skrulls -- not that Marvel Studios has confirmed that the Skrulls are the villains of the movie scheduled for release May 4.
On Friday, Thor and Captain America were all over the set filming fight scenes with the villains. The action was in the middle of the block, sometimes hard to see vantages points on either end of Ninth Street.
Earlier in the week, the street was rocked by massive explosions that shook the ground. Friday's explosions were milder. There were a few puffs of special-effects smoke, and a much-anticipated, but comparably small, fireball to amuse the onlookers.
Ah, maybe we're just getting a little blas about this Hollywood-comes-to-Cleveland thing. Yet, the apocalyptic scene was a thrill for newcomers, who gasped when a ball of flame shot into the air, followed by a puff of smoke.
And kids still pointed fingers at overturned taxi cabs (with smoke machines chugging away underneath) and craned their necks for views of superhero actors.
"This was awesome -- they've been bugging us to get down here all week after they saw it in the paper," said Kim Dalessandro of Huntsburg Township. "I can't believe what they've done to the street. It's so cool."
Vincent Debeljak, 7, and his brother, Dominic, 4, of Kirtland, fared even better.
The boys, dressed as Thor and Captain America respectively, were spotted watching the filming and taken onto the set.
"They got to meet Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor," said their beaming mom, Jessica. "We came down here just hoping for a glimpse, we never expected to actually meet them."
Other film fans caught a look at Hemsworth as he entered his trailer in the parking lot at Prospect Avenue and East 14th Street, the movie set's base camp.
Elsewhere, Public Square is slowly transforming into a Stuttgart, Germany, beer garden for scenes to be filmed at night starting Monday. Exactly what is being filmed, and which stars will be on location, is unrevealed.
A new marquee was placed outside the former Higbee building, declaring it "Schloblatz," perhaps a reference to Schlossplatz, the largest central square in Stuttgart.
Celebrity watchers have sighted Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury) around town in addition to Hemsworth and Evans. Scarlett Johansson (The Black Widow) is expected in town sometime next week as is Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye). No word on when people can expect to see Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner, The Hulk) or if Robert Downey Jr. even needs to come to Cleveland.
Limited shooting is expected to resume Saturday on East Ninth.
Source: Cleveland.com
Photo: Facebook