Ray Chan Dies: ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Production Designer Was “Peerless”, Says Ryan Reynolds

Ray Chan, a longtime production designer on some of Marvel‘s biggest films, died this week, according to a statement Friday from Marvel Studios. He was 56.

Chan was best known for his work on multibillion-dollar Marvel blockbusters such as Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame as well as the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine.

That film’s producer and star, Ryan Reynolds, said in a statement to Deadline that Chan was “as valuable a creative force on Deadpool & Wolverine as the writers, director and stars. … He built worlds from scratch — and did so in the most collaborative and inclusive ways. Ray was peerless.”

You can read Reynolds’ full statement below.

Deadpool & Wolverine writer-director Shawn Levy added, “The loss of Ray is devastating to all of us who worked on Deadpool & Wolverine. Ray did more than design the world of our movie; he lit up the world around him.

“Truly, anyone who knew Ray, or was lucky enough to collaborate with him as we were, experienced this beacon of a man: kind, warm, tenaciously devoted, and relentlessly inspiring – Ray worked and lived with a joyous and contagious  humanity that is rare. He will be deeply missed but forever remembered.”

Chan also worked with directors such as Ridley Scott, Michael Apted, Alfonso Cuarón, Ed Zwick, James Mangold and Antoine Fuqua, and on films as diverse as National Treasure, Nanny McPhee, Children of Men, Blood Diamond, Robin Hood, Knight and Day and Dungeons and Dragons.

He was nominated for an Art Directors Guild Award five times, winning in 2015 and 2020 for Guardians of the Galaxy and Endgame, respectively.

“Ray was first and foremost a good friend to everyone at Marvel Studios. He was a talented collaborator who brought creativity and attention to detail to every frame of every movie he worked on, and who was able to bring out the best in each department he worked with,” said Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige and Louis D’Esposito in a joint statement. “He was the nicest human being and was such a pleasure to work with, hugely generous, and the kind of person who could take the seed of an idea and turn it into something beautiful. We are devastated by his passing. He will be missed by everyone at Marvel, and our sincerest condolences go out to his family and friends.”

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Chan began his relationship with Marvel Studios in 2013 with Thor: The Dark World as supervising art director. He went on to be supervising art director on Guardians, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Doctor Strange, Infinity War, and Endgame. He was also an art director on Spider-Man: Far From Home, as well as production designer on The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania additional photography and the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine.

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Here is Reynolds’ statement in full:

Words are pretty inadequate in comparison to this loss.
There’s an unmatched reservoir of skill, surprise, tender grit and talent the film community will never again witness. He was as valuable a creative force on Deadpool & Wolverine as the writers, director and stars.

I don’t pretend to know every chapter of Ray’s heart, but I know it’s unusual to encounter someone with that level of artistry, who simultaneously moved through the world with such indelible humanity.
He built worlds from scratch — and did so in the most collaborative and inclusive ways. Ray was peerless. He’ll be missed by so many, but most of all his family.

The last time I saw Ray was exactly two weeks ago. One of last things I said to him was that he makes magic and there’s nobody on earth like him. He and I would also give each other a lot of good natured shit. So… of all the last things you could say to someone you adore, that’s a little scrap of consolation I’ll hang onto forever.

Chan is survived by his wife, Lindsay; and his children, Caspar and Sebastian.

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