Do Movie Studios Share Sets? How Avengers: Doomsday Reused Marvel's Baxter Building

When you watch a huge Hollywood movie, it can feel like every building, room and location was created specifically for that movie.

But that is not always how filmmaking works.

Movie studios regularly reuse, modify and redesign existing sets for different productions. A room built for one movie can become a completely different room in another film simply by changing the walls, furniture, lighting, decorations and other details.

Marvel's upcoming Avengers: Doomsday provides a great example.

The Baxter Building sets originally created for The Fantastic Four: First Steps were also used for Avengers: Doomsday. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige explained that the Avengers production was shooting on the same sets that had been built for Fantastic Four.

So, do movie studios really share sets?

Yes — and it is much more common than most audiences realize.

What Does It Mean to Reuse a Movie Set?

A movie set is a physical environment constructed for filming.

It could be:

• A living room
• An office
• A restaurant
• A spaceship interior
• A laboratory
• A superhero headquarters
• A street
• A castle
• A hospital
• An apartment
• A fictional building

Once a studio has spent time and money building one of these environments, there is no rule saying it can only be used once.

The production can modify the set and make it look like a completely different location.

This is called set redressing.

For example, a room could be changed by replacing:

• Furniture
• Paint
• Wall decorations
• Signs
• Doors
• Windows
• Lighting
• Props
• Computers
• Curtains
• Flooring

The underlying structure may remain the same while the audience sees an entirely different environment.

Avengers: Doomsday Is a Real Example

One of the most interesting recent examples comes from Marvel.

The Baxter Building is the headquarters of the Fantastic Four in The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Marvel built physical sets for the film, including interior spaces such as the Baxter Building's living room and kitchen.

Those sets were then used again for Avengers: Doomsday.

Kevin Feige explained that Avengers: Doomsday would use sets previously built for The Fantastic Four: First Steps, allowing characters from different parts of the Marvel universe to share the same physical environments.

That means the production did not necessarily need to completely rebuild the Baxter Building from scratch for the Avengers movie.

Instead, the existing environment could be used and adapted for the new production.

This is one of the advantages of planning interconnected movies.

Why Would Marvel Reuse a Set?

There are several reasons.

1. It Saves Time

Building a large movie set can take significant time.

If a production already has a usable environment, reusing it can allow the crew to begin filming sooner.

For a movie as large as Avengers: Doomsday, where many characters and locations have to be coordinated, saving production time can be valuable.

2. It Can Reduce Costs

Large practical sets require:

• Designers
• Construction crews
• Materials
• Lighting
• Props
• Paint
• Decoration
• Transportation
• Studio space

If a suitable set already exists, rebuilding everything from zero may not make financial sense.

Reusing an existing structure can allow the production to spend its resources elsewhere.

3. It Improves Continuity

There is another important advantage.

If the same fictional building appears in multiple movies, using the original physical set can help maintain consistency.

The Baxter Building should feel like the same place whether the audience sees it in Fantastic Four or Avengers: Doomsday.

The walls, doors, rooms and physical proportions can remain consistent.

4. The Actors Can Work in a Real Environment

Physical sets also give actors something tangible to interact with.

Instead of imagining an entire room surrounded by green or blue screens, actors can physically walk through doors, sit on furniture and interact with real objects.

That can also help cinematographers and directors understand how the scene will look.

Avengers: Doomsday Is Also Using Practical Sets

The reuse of existing sets is only part of the story.

Production designer Gavin Bocquet has discussed the film's use of physical environments, saying that around 80% of interior sets had physical backings rather than relying entirely on digital environments.

That does not mean the movie contains no CGI.

A modern superhero movie can combine:

Physical set + practical props + digital extensions + visual effects

The physical portion provides something real for the camera and actors, while visual effects can expand the environment beyond what was actually constructed.

This hybrid approach is extremely useful for large-scale filmmaking.

What Is Set Redressing?

Set redressing is one of the main techniques that makes set reuse possible.

Imagine a studio has a large apartment interior.

For Movie A, it might look like:

Modern luxury apartment

Then the production changes the furniture, lighting, wall decorations and props.

The same underlying set might become:

A detective's apartment

Then another production could modify it again:

A scientist's laboratory

The audience may never realize that the same physical structure has been used multiple times.

That is the magic of production design.

Do Studios Reuse Entire Sets?

Sometimes.

But they can also reuse only parts of a set.

For example, a production might keep:

• A staircase
• A hallway
• A doorway
• A wall section
• A window
• A ceiling structure
• A room layout

Then designers add new pieces around those components.

This is especially useful when only a small portion of a location appears on camera.

The camera does not need to see the entire building.

It only needs to see what the scene requires.

Movie Sets Can Be Much Smaller Than They Look

This is another interesting part of filmmaking.

A movie can make a relatively small studio space appear enormous.

A hallway might only be several metres long.

A building exterior might only be a partial facade.

A room may have only three walls because the fourth side is occupied by cameras and crew.

Visual effects can then extend the environment.

For example:

Physical set

Lighting

Camera angle

Set decoration

Visual effects

=

A much larger world on screen

That is why movie production is as much about creating an illusion as constructing an entire real-world location.

What Happens to Movie Sets After Filming?

After filming ends, a production has several options.

The set can be:

Stored

Some important pieces may be kept in storage for future use.

Reused

The production may use the set again in another movie or television project.

Modified

Parts of the set can be redesigned into something completely different.

Destroyed

Some temporary sets are dismantled once filming is finished.

Preserved

Iconic sets or props may sometimes be preserved for future productions, exhibitions or studio purposes.

The decision depends on the importance, size and cost of the set.

Why Shared Sets Make Sense for Franchises

Set reuse becomes particularly useful when movies are connected.

Think about franchises with:

• Multiple sequels
• Spin-offs
• Shared characters
• Shared fictional locations
• Connected storylines

If the same headquarters, apartment or laboratory appears repeatedly, rebuilding the location every time would be inefficient.

A studio can instead maintain a recognizable environment and modify it when necessary.

Marvel's interconnected universe makes this especially interesting.

A location introduced in one movie can potentially appear again when another group of characters enters the same fictional world.

That is exactly what makes the Baxter Building example so interesting.

Marvel Has Even Reused Older X-Men Sets

The idea goes beyond the Baxter Building.

Kevin Feige has also discussed the use of recognizable sets connected to the original X-Men movies in Avengers: Doomsday. He described seeing some of those old sets again decades after his early work on the first X-Men film.

That creates an unusual situation where a physical filmmaking location can become part of movie history.

A set can disappear from the screen for years and then return in a completely different production.

Is Every Movie Set Shared?

No.

Some sets are built specifically for one production.

This is especially true when the environment has a very unusual design or needs to match a specific director's vision.

Other sets are temporary and may not be practical to preserve.

There is also no requirement that two productions share the exact same physical structure.

Sometimes filmmakers simply recreate a similar environment.

So there is a difference between:

Reusing the actual set

and

Recreating a similar set

The first involves using an existing physical environment.

The second involves building something new that looks similar.

Why Audiences Usually Don't Notice

The main goal of set reuse is not for audiences to recognize the production shortcut.

The goal is to make the environment feel correct for the story.

Production designers can completely change the appearance of a set.

Different:

• Lighting
• Camera angles
• Props
• Costumes
• Furniture
• Colors
• Decorations
• Visual effects

can make the same physical space feel like a completely different location.

That is why you may have watched hundreds of movies without realizing that some locations were reused.

The Bigger Idea: Hollywood Is Built Around Reuse

The idea of sharing resources is not limited to movie sets.

Hollywood productions reuse many things.

They can reuse:

• Props
• Vehicles
• Costumes
• Locations
• Soundstages
• Equipment
• Set pieces
• Production facilities

The key is adapting an existing resource to a new purpose.

That is why the Baxter Building is more than just an interesting Marvel detail.

It is an example of a much bigger filmmaking principle:

Build once when possible, then adapt and reuse when it makes sense.

What Avengers: Doomsday Teaches Us About Sharing

There is an interesting connection between movie production and the idea behind SubSharePool.

Sharing does not always mean two people using something at exactly the same time.

It can also mean making an existing resource useful to more than one person, project or purpose.

A movie set built for one production can later support another production.

A physical location can have multiple uses.

A resource that would otherwise sit unused can become valuable again.

That is one reason the idea of sharing is so powerful.

If you have a useful resource, profile, service, opportunity or link that others can benefit from, the value does not necessarily stop with its original use.

You can also create and share useful resources through SubSharePool.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do movie studios really reuse sets?

Yes. Movie studios can reuse complete sets, individual sections of sets, locations and other production resources. Sets can also be redesigned or "redressed" to appear as different locations.

Did Avengers: Doomsday reuse the Fantastic Four sets?

Yes. Kevin Feige said that Avengers: Doomsday was being filmed on the same sets built for The Fantastic Four: First Steps, including the Baxter Building interiors.

Why do movie studios reuse sets?

The main reasons include saving construction time, reducing costs, maintaining continuity and allowing filmmakers to work with practical environments.

What is set redressing?

Set redressing means changing an existing movie set so that it looks appropriate for a different scene or production. Furniture, props, walls, decorations, lighting and other elements can be changed.

Are Avengers: Doomsday sets practical or CGI?

The movie uses a combination of physical sets and visual effects. Production designer Gavin Bocquet said approximately 80% of interior sets had physical backings.

Can the same movie set be used in multiple movies?

Yes. A set can be reused, modified or partially reconstructed for different productions.

Does Marvel reuse old sets?

Yes. In addition to the Baxter Building, Kevin Feige has discussed recognizable sets associated with the original X-Men movies appearing again in Avengers: Doomsday.

Final Takeaway

So, do movie studios share sets?

Absolutely.

The Baxter Building used in The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Avengers: Doomsday is a clear modern example of how a major studio can reuse an existing physical environment.

Instead of treating every production as completely separate, filmmakers can reuse and redesign valuable resources.

And that makes movie production surprisingly similar to many other industries:

Create → Use → Share → Adapt → Reuse.

Sometimes the smartest production decision isn't building something completely new.

It is knowing what you already have and finding another way to use it.