How do you film a Marvel series in a McDonald’s? Loki director Dan DeLeeuw in an interview

Dan DeLeeuw has been a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for ten years. Nevertheless, many fans of the successful superhero universe are not familiar with him. Unlike Marvel boss Kevin Feige, who is often credited with planning the mega-franchise, DeLeeuw is rarely in the spotlight. Since Iron Man 3, however, he has been involved in the making of the most important films. Now he’s telling Loki’s story on Disney+.

Loki director Dan DeLeeuw in an interview about his Marvel career, McDonald’s and the perfect song for Sylvie

DeLeeuw has been working as a film technician in Hollywood since the early 1990s and has specialized in working with visual effects. From The Rock to Armageddon to Night at the Museum: DeLeeuw knows what spectacle looks like in Hollywood films. No wonder he one day found his way into the MCU and helped shape mega-blockbusters like Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

As part of the second season of Loki, he is now delivering his first Marvel episode. A big step: DeLeeuw took over the direction of the second episode, which is about the search for Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) before we find ourselves in a McDonald’s in 1982. But how do you film a Marvel series in a McDonalds? I spoke to DeLeeuw about this and more in an interview.

Moviepilot: You now have a long history with Marvel. How did this all start?

Dan DeLeeuw: I was a big fan of comics even as a child. As an adult, I was very impressed by what she did [mit dem Marvel Cinematic Universe] so I applied to Iron Man 3 as a second unit visual effects supervisor. I had actually worked in the first unit on several productions before, but I wanted to take a step back to really immerse myself in the universe. After that I continued with Winter Soldier in the First Unit. With [den Regisseuren Joe und Anthony Russo] I had the time of my life. Together we did Winter Soldier, Civil War, Infinity War and Endgame.

How did you go from visual effects to directing?

Basically, it started with the last Avengers films. We shot Infinity War and Endgame back to back. Due to post-production on Infinity War, we were unable to finish filming Endgame and had to take a break. We also used this time to work on the pre-visualization of the final battle of Endgame. When Joe asked me if I wanted to shoot parts of it myself, I said, “That would be great!” We then passed the ball back and forth like table tennis. I shot part of the battle and Joe and Anthony shot part. That was the beginning of my career as a second unit director. And now I’m directing Loki.

What scene are you most proud of that you shot in Endgame?

I mean, we’ve all worked on it, but I would take the moment where Iron Man, Thor and Captain America fight Thanos and Captain America catches Thor’s hammer at the end.

What is the most valuable thing you learned from the Russos as a director?

The Russos have incredible knowledge and foresight. From the beginning, they understood how big and complex these films were and were open to all ideas. The entire crew was able to provide input, from pre-visualization to stunts. In the end, it’s always the best idea that counts. So what you see in the battle in Endgame is the sum of that. Without the Russos’ openness, this would not have been possible. This is exactly the attitude I try to adopt as a director.

For Loki Season 2 you are one of four directors. Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead directed episodes 1, 4, 5 and 6. Kasra Farahani did episode 3 and you did episode 2. How does the collaboration work?

I knew Loki well because I was the visual effects supervisor for Season 1. When I came on board as director for Season 2, we were able to fall back on the system we had established during pre-production on Season 1. We all get together in the writers’ room and work on the rough story. As soon as the scripts are somewhat in shape, the actors come in and everyone can contribute their ideas. It’s like the Russos. I’m not working on my episode alone. Instead, we have an overview of the entire season. This is important when it comes to the time travel rules, for example. At the end of the day we have a script with all the ideas and a precise plan of how we want to implement them.

Was it clear from the start that you would take on Episode 2?

I think they deliberately assigned the episodes to us based on our strengths. Justin [Benson] and Aaron [Moorhead] are a brilliant duo and took over a lot of the main story. Kasra [Farahani] is responsible for Episode 3, which takes place during the 1893 World’s Fair. It made a lot of sense that, as the series’ production designer, he would also take on the staging. I was immediately drawn to the chase sequences in Episode 2. This is my specialty. But I also had a lot of fun with the dramatic scenes with the cast.

Which scene was the most challenging for you?

All the scenes we shoot in an episode are planned down to the smallest detail. The chase in London was still particularly challenging because we had to shoot a lot of night scenes in the summer – so in only four and a half hours of complete darkness. During the day we prepared as much as we could. As soon as our cameraman gave the go-ahead, we shot the scenes as quickly as possible. But some days we didn’t make it. Despite the first rays of sunshine, we tried to make it look like night.

A special location in Episode 2 is the McDonald’s in Oklahoma, where Sylvie finds peace – at least for a short time. How did that come about? Did you really film in a McDonald’s?

First we looked for a suitable location for this part of the story. McDonald’s seemed like a good choice because there is a certain nostalgia associated with this place and it is very symbolic of 1980s America. We then contacted McDonald’s and presented our idea. They provided us with all sorts of information about what a typical McDonald’s looked like back then. From the wallpaper on the wall to the composition of the hamburgers to the sound of a cash register opening, we found many helpful references in the archives to build our own McDonald’s. We set it all up in an old curry restaurant that hadn’t been used for a year. The art department completely transformed the place.

More on the subject:

The episode ends with a beautiful musical moment that perfectly captures the mood and Sylvie’s feelings. Kozmic Blues by Janis Joplin – how did you come up with the song?

We went through a lot of songs and thought about which one fits best. We started with songs from the 80s because that’s where the action takes place. We were inspired, among other things, by the scene from Teen Lover in which John Cusack holds up the radio recorder and the camera moves towards him. We wanted to do that with Sylvie too. But the songs from the 80s didn’t work. So we asked ourselves what music the character would listen to and ended up with Kozmic Blues. As we [Sylvie-Darstellerin] Sophia [Di Martino] After talking about it, she revealed to us that she put together a playlist to get into Sylvie’s head. Kozmic Blues was also on this list – that was it.

The second season of Loki started on Disney+ on October 6, 2023 and consists of a total of six episodes. These are published individually every Friday.

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