Welcome to this week’s MCU: Location Scout where I take you behind-the-locations of the Busan Street Chase from Black Panther. You won’t find this exclusive look at all the locations anywhere else, so buckle up and hold on tight! Wakanda Forever!
LOCATION: VARIOUS (See Below)
SHOW: Black Panther (2018)
Based on the trailers for Black Panther the Busan Street Chase looked like it would be a small portion of the film. But once the film came out, this sequence was a complex and intricate action sequence like had never been shown in a Marvel film before, even at only 5 minutes long.
Black Panther is the second MCU film, after Avengers: Age of Ultron, to shoot in South Korea. While Ultron filmed in the capital of Seoul, Panther filmed in the southeastern port city of Busan, the 2nd largest city in South Korea.
To me, the most impressive piece of this action sequence was that none of the principal cast (Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira or Andy Serkis) were on location in Korea. That means anytime you see these characters on the streets or in their vehicles they are either being filmed in locations in Atlanta, GA or in the studio (just outside of Atlanta). The backgrounds for the car chase were shot by a 2nd Unit in Busan using a car with a 17-camera-array designed to capture 360° action at two different heights [Cinefex #158]. Stunt actors were used for scenes when principal stars were riding on the exteriors of vehicles.
In order to understand what a marvel (pun intended) this action sequence is, let’s break the chase scene down – from the start at the secret casino, located in the markets of Busan, through the various crashes of each vehicle, ending at the beachside lot near Gwangalli Beach.
NOTE: Much of Busan has not be mapped in Google Street View, and what has is anywhere from 3-8 years old. The satellite imagery of the area is also old and not very clear. Please keep this in mind as you read thru this post, since many locations don’t have a direct street view to compare against, alternate methods of discovery were used.
1) While it appears to be the bustling markets of the Jagalchi area of Busan, it is actually the Metropolitan Business and Arts District, 675 Metropolitan Pkwy SW, in Atlanta. One particular strip between two of the warehouses (the dead-end road between building #2 & 3), was redressed as a Korean market, with imagery of Busan used for any backgrounds beyond that. (source: ExploreGeorgia.org). This location is just across the street from the warehouses used in Spider-Man: Homecoming for the Vulture’s hideout.
2) After the battle in the casino, Klaue and his men escape in four black Toyota 4Runner SUV’s quickly followed by Nakia & Okoye in a Lexus GS F. T’Challa hops onto a Lexus LC 500 which is remotely piloted by his sister Shuri back in Wakanda.
3) Nakia speeds down Jagalchi-Ro (going the wrong direction of this one way street) following the SUVs, passing by a CU Convenience Store. All the vehicles pass under what appears to be a bridge, but is in reality the second level to a Parking structure. Klaue calls for the SUVs to split up. Klaue and the second SUV head off screen left while the other two SUVs head screen right. Nakia’s car follows SUV’s #1 & 2 which went left, still along Jagalchi-Ro.
4) Shuri informs her brother that she knows a short cut, and races through an alley, narrowly missing a car at an intersection. This location was difficult to locate, but once I was able to decipher that the building on the left side of the street was the Hotel Noah, and I could confirm that buildings on other corners were a Paris Baguette and a GS25 convenience store, the location and direction of the chase was self-evident.
5) SUVs #3 & 4 turn a corner and start down a hill, when Shuri’s car catches up. This segue’s into the next downhill shot, but was filmed at another location entirely. The corner that the SUVs take is a part of town on Cheonghakseo-Ro, heading away from 1 Waichi-Ro.
6) The SUVs pull into traffic on a wide street, causing a wreck. Shuri doesn’t think she can make the turn, but T’Challa tips the car and using his panther claws, helps the vehicle pull a 90° turn. This intersection is located where Namhangsijan-Gil joins Yeongseon-daero, which has changed quite a bit since the last Google Street View was taken in 2010. In the last 7 years the road has been widened and a central Bridge has been placed on the street (as seen in the film) used for trains most likely.
7) Black Panther continues the chase of the SUVs by leaping on top of the closest SUV and causing it to crash into some parked cars. This street is the same street from the intersection crash, and is just a continuation of the action from the previous beat. It was all filmed along Yeongseon-daero, heading south.
8) The final SUV, followed by Shuri, race onto the entrance of a Bridge. The south end of Yeongseon-daero does have a bridge entrance, but it’s actually for a different bridge than the one seen in the film (and trailers). It is the entrance to the Namhang Bridge.
9) Okoye is tired of the second SUV firing at them, so she exits the vehicle and stands on the rooftop, balanced with her spear. Nakia weaves to avoid other cars as she travels down this smaller street. Okoye throws her spear through the window of the SUV, so that it lands just in front of the car. The SUV hits the spear and flips up into the air just in front of the Shindonga Seafood market. This market is a large seafood market, which is part of a larger open air market along this street. The preceding action was all shot travelling westbound on Jagalchi-ro.
10) Back on the bridge, Shuri dodges traffic as T’Challa leaps off the Lexus and onto the fourth SUV. His suit has absorbed all the impacts from bullets and hits that he has taken, so his leap onto the hood imparts a ton of kinetic energy causing the black SUV to crumple and crash. The Gwangandaegyo Bridge was used to film this particular scene.
11) With one less SUV in her way, Nakia put her foot down on the pedal and takes off after Klaue. They both leap over hills on a downhill stretch of road. Klaue leans out of his window and blasts the car out from under both ladies, causing them to skid to a stop. Everett Ross pulls up at the bottom of the hill and picks them up, but Klaue has escaped. This one sequence is made up of two hilly streets near Dongseo University and the Kyungnam College of Information & Technology. In the first sequence (Blue Arrow) the letters “KIT” can be seen on the wall behind Klaue’s car, while in the second half of the sequence (Red arrow), as Okoye flies through the air, the DSU Logo, and specifically the arch from the “Global Sports Center,” can be seen behind her.
12) T’Challa and Shuri pick up pursuit of Klaue on the street outside Gwangalli Beach. There are plenty of behind-the-scenes videos on YouTube from fans along Gwanganhaebyeon-Ro watching this scene be filmed.
13) Both cars make a sharp right turn at a busy intersection, as Klaue blasts Shuri’s car, destroying it. T’Challa leaps off the vehicle and runs across the neon-faced buildings. The Sajikbuk area near the Sajik Baseball Stadium was used for this scene. The busy neon lighting provides excellent imagery as Black Panther races around the shot.
14) T’Challa then jumps back on Kalue’s SUV and removes a tire with his panther claws. The scene ends with the SUV flipping into a pedestrian market area. The street and car crash were filmed in Busan, while the foreground with the flower pots and lanterns were part of the set in Atlanta.
15) Klaue’s car crashes at the end of the chase, near a Busan Beach. This sequence was shot in Atlanta with a digital background filling in for Korea.
I’d like to take a moment to thank my friend Youlee for helping me locate portions of this chase, including the streets in #3, 5 & 9. Her help was invaluable for translating business signs in an attempt to locate. Stay tuned for more location scouting here at your #1 Location for MCU Filming Locations!
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Behind every scene in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a location. Some are iconic. Some are functional. Some are completely fantastic. But all of them are there to support the story.
Here at the MCU: Location Scout, Jovial Jay digs deep to uncover the real-world filming locations behind your favorite super hero films. From Iron Man to Inhumans and everything in between!
Having grown up on comics, television and film, “Jovial” Jay feels destined to host podcasts and write blogs related to the union of these nerdy pursuits. Among his other pursuits he administrates and edits stories at the two largest Star Wars fan sites on the ‘net (Rebelscum.com, TheForce.net), and co-hosts the Jedi Journals podcast over at the ForceCast network.