Trivia / Major Grom: Plague Doctor

• Deleted Scenes: There are several, all of which were restored for the Director's Cut:
  • A scene immediately after young Sergei's confrontation with the three bullies on the beach, where Sergei feeds the stray dog, telling it that it'll never be hurt again.
  • An extra bit from the opening chase scene with Grom running through the contents of a moving truck and overtop the furniture (causing a scarf to briefly get caught around his neck).
  • An extended cut of Grom's visit to Vmeste, in which Grom chooses a drink from one of the vending machines in Razumovsky's office; the can gets stuck, and Razumovsky frees it by rebooting the machine, explaining that "sometimes, the best solution is a system reboot".
  • A scene with Grom and Dubin hitching a ride through the city on fishing boat.
  • Extra scenes from the Golden Dragon grand opening, including: an Imagine Spot of Igor winning at the blackjack, roulette, and poker tables and securing an evening with a pretty patron; a phone conversation between Sergei and Margo; and an appearance from Oleg, who offers to kill Albert Bekhtiev and taunts Sergei until he slaps him in anger.
  • A longer version of the Plague Doctor's final reveal where Sergey tries to flee his office, only to find that Bird instantly teleports and blocks his every route of escape.
    Sergey: Why [have you done this]?!
    The Bird [rolls eyes dramatically, turns and bullrushes Sergey] You wanted to improve life in our city. It's impossible to grow a blooming garden in a weedy area. Sometimes, the best solution is a system reboot.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Tikhon Zhiznevsky overhauled his diet, lost 10 kilograms (22 lbs), and underwent a heavy training regimen to play the fit, athletic Grom (using both the Major Grom comics and Brad Pitt from Fight Club and Snatch. as body references). He also dyed his curly blonde hair dark brown, and cut it short to remove the curls. Zhiznevsky stated that he took the role in part because of the challenge of undergoing a physical transformation.
  • For the role of Sergei Razumovsky, Sergei Goroshko lost roughly 33 lbs (also by overhauling his diet) and had his light-brown hair dyed the character's signature coppery red. He also wore contact lenses to turn his eyes blue and, later, golden yellow.
  • To play the odious Nouveau Riche socialite Kirill Grechkin, Yuri Nasonov bleached his dark brown hair whitish-blonde, had fake tattoos applied, and wore gold veneers. The hair caused some issues: Nasanov was acting in a stage play at the time, and neglected to tell the director he'd changed his hair until after the fact. (Fortunately, he was able to wear a wig for the rest of the play's run.)
  • Aleksey Maklakov wore a fake mustache and dyed his hair light grey to give himself an older, more "fatherly" look as Fyodor Prokopenko.
  • Mikhail Evlanov was fitted with a full dental prosthetic in order to give him Strelkov's unsettling smile.
  • Lyubov Aksyonova dyed her light-brown hair apple red to play Yulia Pchyolkina.
• Inspiration for the Work: Dmitry Chebotarev's performance as Oleg Volkov was influenced by Tom Hiddleston as Loki (particularly his body language) and the early roles of Tom Hardy.
• Method Acting:
  • In order to prepare for his role, Sergei Goroshko personally compiled Sergey Razumovsky's entire biography from birth until after the events of the movie, using information sourced from the comics (all of which he read) and the film's scriptwriters. He also wore Razumovsky's white sneakers off camera for several weeks so they would look and feel like "his", and insisted on being in the Plague Doctor suit for the promo photos and whenever the character appears onscreen, with the only exceptions being the scenes where Volkov and Grom appear as the Plague Doctor, when the flamethrowers are in use, and when Razumovsky is sparring with Grom (as the latter two required stunt performers).
  • Lyubov Aksyonova studied with a voice coach and a facial expressions coach to perfect Yulia's news reporter cadence and countenance, even though her news report segment takes up less than a minute of screen time.
• Promoted Fanboy: Yuri Nasonov, who plays Kirill Gretchkin, was a huge fan of the Major Grom comic book series (and comic books in general) before being cast in the film.
• What Could Have Been: After the 2017 teaser film was well-received by Western audiences, numerous Hollywood producers were interested in making a feature-length Grom film, including Harvey Weinstein. The meeting with him was cancelled at the last minute after allegations of sexual abuse came out.
  • Another foreign producer expressed interest, but insisted on casting English-speaking actors and "Americanizing" the story (changing the setting from Saint Petersburg to New York City and renaming Igor Grom "Harry Thunder"). Bubble declined, as they felt it strayed too far from the core concept of the series.
  • Numerous options were considered for the Plague Doctor's film costume, including ordinary black street clothes and business attire, ninja-esque garb, and variations of a doctor's uniform (including medieval robes with cowls and hats), as well as trenchcoats and dusters. The costume designer also considered making all (or part) of the costume red, white, or purple to reference the Plague Doctor's costume from the comics.
    • Once it was decided that the Plague Doctor would wear body armor, the costume designer considered having the character's outerwear become shredded and destroyed by flames during the fight with Grom, revealing a high-tech "exoskeleton" underneath.
    • They also debated applying prosthetic "buboes" to exposed skin on the Plague Doctor's neck, or incorporating buboes into the character's armor (to show, symbolically, that he isn't immune to the city's "sickness").
  • Kirill Grechkin was almost given a preppy, buttoned-up look, complete with a cardigan tied around his neck (to show that he was polished and proper outside, but rotten and corrupt inside).
  • There was an alternate version of the opening segment after the title drop, in which Igor Grom breaks up a chop shop. The narration delves into Grom's personal history, revealing that he had a police detective father who once busted the Anubis cult (and died in the process) and once had a partner who either died or went missing (hence why Igor works alone).
  • The original script included some scenes that were never filmed or heavily altered:
    • A longer version of the opening scene with the bullies, which begins with Sergei playing with a paper airplane (referencing both the comics and Bubble's 2017 Viral Marketing campaign for the teaser film) and ends with Sergey feeding the newly-rescued dog, telling it "You're safe now." The end scene was retained, but shortened (and reduced to a flashback).
    • More dialogue between Doormat!Sergey and Bird!Sergey, including Bird explicitly stating that he took Oleg's form as a means of revenge (because Oleg had replaced him as Sergey's "best friend"). The scene also revealed that Sergey undergoes a physical transformation when The Bird takes over, causing (among other things) his eyes to turn yellow — something hinted to be merely psychological in the finished film.
    • An alternate version of the Post-Credit Scene in the mental hospital, with Razumovsky being taunted by Dr. Rubenstein, who promises to give him a sedative only if he allows The Bird to come out and talk. Razumovsky does so, (causing him to develop Bird's signature Supernatural Gold Eyes) and Bird threatens the doctor, who merely chuckles and leaves to tend to "visitors". This ended up being included in the prequel as a mid-credit scene, minus some of the dialogue (like a mention of a boat arriving at the island several minutes earlier).
    • An earlier version of the same scene apparently showed Oleg Volkov (or a vision of him) appearing at the hospital to rescue Sergei.
  • The original storyboards for the film portrayed Razumovsky a scruffy "tech bro" who carried a backpack and worked directly out of Vmeste's server room. The stray dog also played a bigger part in the movie, with the storyboards implying that the shawarma stand operator adopted it. Other scenes were staged differently, such as the entire police station (prisoners included) betting on Grom's resignation/dismissal, the Plague Doctor blasting a hole in the ground floor of the bank and walking out amidst the ruins (rather than posing dramatically on the second-story balcony), Grom drowning all of Yulia's electronic equipment in her bathroom sink, and Grom and the Plague Doctor having their Final Battle on the rooftop of a burning Vmeste building.

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