Behind the VFX of Twisted Metal 2
AUGUST 25 2025
From outrageous stunts to post- apocalyptic spectacle, Twisted Metal 2 delivers chaos at every turn. For our team at Cause and FX, the brief was just as wild – bringing digital characters like Axel and Minion to life in a way that felt seamless, cinematic, and above all, believable.
“Season 2 of Twisted Metal presented substantial logistical, technical, and creative challenges that required the expertise of a world- class visual effects studio. That’s where Cause and FX come in,” said Joshua Spivack, VFX Supervisor at Sony Entertainment.
With a legacy relationship in place and early trust from the production team, our team at Cause and FX stepped into a key role, handling some of the most ambitious VFX sequences in the series.
Earning VFX Confidence with a Proactive Approach
Before cameras rolled, we built a previsualisation of Axel inside Unreal Engine, a proactive move that helped the studio see our vision in motion.
“I worked with the Cause team early on to develop previs on the best way to actually shoot a practical version before simply relying on VFX,” said Spivack. “Working alongside our production designer, the team helped influence design models that were used in the final picture.”
This early step helped secure confidence and gave Cause and FX the opportunity to take on the heaviest VFX lifting for the show.
Creating Axel – Digital Muscle on a TV Budget
Axel is a standout character for a reason, he’s a human axle, with massive wheels connected to each arm and a hyper-muscular frame. Realising him convincingly meant starting with a 3D scan of the actor, captured using more than a 100-camera array.
But scans like this don’t go straight to screen. We cleaned, rebuilt, and re-rigged Axel into an animatable digital double, designed from the ground up.
“This then correlates to the fully CG version of Axel that is 1:1 photoreal and is relied on heavily in action sequences or anytime the character has to move,” Spivack explained. “Having a photoreal digital counterpart was paramount to our ability to tell this story.”
The real challenge? Musculature. On a feature film, a full muscle simulation system would be standard – but on a TV timeline and budget, we had to get smart. Using custom rigging, sculpted corrections, and joint- based movement, we created the illusion of realistic muscle deformation that could hold up in 4K close-ups.
Minion
Minion brought a whole new level of complexity. His shiny, reflective suit caused havoc during scanning, producing distorted data that couldn’t be used as-is. We rebuilt the model and textures by hand-layering in detail, reflection maps, and subtle surface variations from scratch.
“Due to shooting limitations, Minion needed to be digi in shots that otherwise would have had a practical version,” said Spivack. “The realism of Minion is astounding and is so good we decided to add a fully digital Minion action sequence to help sell the character’s fierceness.”
Using Houdini and the Karma renderer, our final version of Minion held up under dynamic lighting and high- speed motion.
From Scan to Screen – The End- to- End Process
Our pipeline for both Axel and Minion was full-spectrum and cross- disciplinary. Here’s how we brought each character to life:
- Scanning and Modelling: Using on-set scans as a base, cleaned and rebuilt into production- ready assets.
- Texturing and Surfacing: Recreated or repainted by hand to ensure accuracy under dynamic lighting.
- Rigging: Complex deformation rigs built to reflect exaggerated anatomy and character-specific motion.
- Animation: Keyframe animation based on story beats, tested and iterated with the client for approval.
- Lighting: Scenes were lit using on- set HDRI data to match live-action environments.
- Compositing: Final integration of CG, muzzle flashes, dust, shadow corrections, and rig clean-up.
This was a true team effort, with artists including James Cunningham, Chris Lyne, Kris Slagter and others collaborating across departments to bring each shot to life.
Invisible Fixes and Fully CG Shots
Not every moment called for digital spectacle. In many cases, the most powerful work was invisible – dust trails, camera shake, muzzle flashes, and lighting corrections designed to blend seamlessly into the final cut.
“They still manage to take on the normal workflow you’d expect,” Spivack said. “They own a fire hair effect on a character that requires match move and simulations, they do countless photoreal missiles, explosions, tracers – anything and everything.”
When a live-action shot couldn’t deliver, our artists built entire scenes from scratch, without breaking immersion.
High Stakes, Big Screens
One of the proudest moments came when Axel hit the screen – full-frame, 4K, no cutaways. Our CG had to hold its ground under a magnifying glass. And it did.
From initial previs to final comp, we knew the success of these scenes relied on more than technical skill, it was about storytelling. Every dust sim, light angle, and animation pass had to serve the narrative.
“Cause and FX doesn’t just follow a creative,” said Spivack. “They can take the lead and bring their own wonderful ideas to the table. This opens doors and creates a creative workflow between showrunner and vendor.”
Every creative decision served the narrative and upheld the trust our team had earned.
Final Word – Trust, Creativity and Going Beyond
Working on Twisted Metal 2 gave our team at Cause and FX the opportunity to go beyond delivery and into true creative partnership. We’re proud of what we achieved, because it wasn’t just about pixels and pipelines. It was about pushing the envelope, solving complex problems, and delivering work that held up on the biggest of screens.
“There is no Twisted Metal without Cause and FX,” Spivack said.
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