The film was shot in 3 different countries. Filming began in Cape Town, South Africa, then moved to Prague, Czech Republic, finally finishing in Budapest, Hungary. Vin Diesel said “I had a blast in South Africa. I had always wanted to go. I had been to northern Africa but I had never been to sub-Saharan Africa. And it was like, the sun returning, it was so powerful. But my whole family, while I would go to set, my kids were learning how to sing and dance in Zulu, and there was a day which was the best moment I had on that movie, was when my children came and performed in front of 500 of the crew members, most of them Zulu, in Zulu. It was such a magical moment, some of the crew were in tears…. Shooting in Cape Town was a life-changing experience.”
1. Jared Leto almost ended up playing Vin Diesel’s character.
Storyboarding and development for the Bloodshot film began in 2012, and initially, there were plans for Jared Leto to take the starring role in 2017. Ultimately, Vin Diesel ended up starring as the first Valiant character to hit the big screen in 2018, which leads us to the next thing you didn’t know...
2. Bloodshot is the beginning of Valiant’s launch of its cinematic comic book universe
Valiant was recently acquired by DMG Entertainment, a company founded by Dan Mintz. Mintz chose Bloodshot as the first in a series of films from the Valiant universe with plenty more coming in the future. There are at least 4 movies planned for the future, including a sequel to Bloodshot, 2 films based on the Harbinger comic book series, and Mintz has announced plans for a crossover film titled ‘Harbinger Wars’.
3. Director David S.F Wilson was nervous about pitching Vin Diesel’s character
Director David S.F Wilson, who has also worked on Star Wars films, was a bit nervous when pitching the Bloodshot character to Vin Diesel.
“I was nervous about pitching it to him because Vin’s characters are often strong, alpha males who are very confident and one step ahead of everybody else. And Bloodshot is obviously not that, he’s still as physically formidable as some of Vin’s other characters, and even more so actually once he’s imbued with some of the abilities that RSD gives him, but from an emotional standpoint he’s very vulnerable like he’s being manipulated, he doesn’t know who he is, he’s broken… So I pitched that as the version of who he is and he (Vin Diesel) was genuinely excited about being something who hadn’t been for a while.”
4. Vin Diesel researched military PTSD before taking the role of Bloodshot
Speaking on his character, Diesel said, “The character Ray Garrison, who is Bloodshot, a character who has dealt with PTSD, and really represents the concept of the forgotten or discarded soldier. So for me, it was important to research that sentiment that existed in some of our veterans. Bloodshot specifically has always been the military’s favorite superhero. Anybody that’s served has had those feelings of ‘Am I coming home to a world that appreciates me, or appreciates the sacrifices I’ve made?’”