Trilith Studios offers behind-the-scenes tour that includes Nate Bargatze set

On a recent Trilith Studios tour in Fayetteville, the trolley drove outside the studio gates into an otherwise unremarkable open field filled with tall grass and wildflowers.

But tour guide North Jackson quickly noted that this wasn’t just any field: It’s where a key “Avengers: Infinity War” fight scene happened. It was also the Army encampment in Disney+’s “WandaVision,” and both “Zombieland” and “The Walking Dead” used the field, as well.

Benjamin Willis, a Lorain, Ohio, teenager and huge Marvel movie fan, opened his mouth in awe. When Jackson asked if anybody wanted to get a photo in the field, Willis was the only one to leap out of the trolley. “Incredible!” he said.

Benjamin Willis, visiting from Lorain, Ohio, poses for a photo during the Trilith Studio Tour Experience on Monday, June 1, 2026, and was thrilled to be in a field that was used in "Avengers: Infinity War," "WandaVision" and "The Walking Dead." (Rodney Ho/AJC)

Since early 2024, Trilith Studios has offered behind-the-scenes tours of its purpose-built film/TV complex — the largest of its kind in North America, spanning 34 stages and 700 acres. The studio and adjoining town were built by Dan Cathy, billionaire chairman and former chief executive officer of Chick-fil-A.

So far, more than 40,000 people have taken the 90-minute tour, which costs $38 for adults and $33 for seniors and children. Up to three trolleys, each holding 14 to 18 people, can take the tour at a time. They run Monday through Saturday, up to five times a day. (Like Chick-fil-A, studio tours are closed Sunday.)

The tours take about 90 minutes with two guides, usually actors, providing tidbits and history of the space.

An oversized Incredible Hulk sculpture greets guests on the Trilith Foundation Studio Tour on Thursday, June 11, 2026, in Fayetteville. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

The guides begin the tour in a rented Roam workspace room to introduce themselves and how the proceeds of the tour go to the Trilith Foundation, a nonprofit that supports creatives, filmmakers and storytellers. The foundation, which launched in 2023, provides a $500 subsidy to creatives who need mental health services, a wellness and coffee lounge called 6B on the lot offering massages and a chiropractor and an annual Flourishing Summit to explore “intentional, purpose-driven living,” according to the organization’s website.

The concept of “human flourishing” came up frequently during the tour, a favorite topic of the foundation focused on mental health, happiness, purpose, character and social relationships. “We set the stage and enrich the storymakers who inspire the rest of the world,” Jackson said.

Guests tour Trilith Studios on Thursday, June 11, 2026, in Fayetteville. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

The tour includes a short tour of the 10-year-old town itself featuring 30-plus retail shops and services and a planned community where more than 1,000 people now reside. It also passes by Trilith Live, a newly opened building featuring movie theaters, space for musician tour rehearsals and game show tapings and an auditorium that hosts concerts and church services.

The trolley then enters the soundstage area. On the day the AJC was there in June, not much was happening, indicative of the slowdown in business in the state as a whole and the fact Marvel pulled out of Georgia in 2024, moving most production to London. (More than a dozen Marvel movies shot at Trilith over a span of a decade.)

Timothy Driver, head of marketing and communications at Trilith Foundation, said Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson talked to a group of students on the tour in 2025 while he was on campus filming the upcoming live-action “Moana” for Disney.

Trilith does have one major film production happening now: the latest “Superman” movie. But there was no chance of seeing actors like David Corenswet or Rachel Brosnahan because the film was shooting on soundstages built out in 2023 in a different part of campus.

This is just as well because Trilith staff are not allowed to reference the movie by its actual name, much less allow the public to see the film production. Jackson instead used the film’s code name, “Exodus.”

The ghost of Marvel past was very much present. Jackson pointed out a fire hydrant that had a sign “Property of Star Lord: Dogs Beware!” She said Chris Pratt, who shot two “Guardians of the Galaxy” sequels at Trilith, loved the place so much, he wrote on the sign “Nobody can pee here but me!”

The tour recently added a new feature: the primary interior house set used in the recently released Nate Bargatze comedy “The Breadwinner.”

Sony Pictures, “The Breadwinner” distributor, allowed Trilith to keep the set on one of its soundstages for tours. The set itself includes real appliances (though not always functional), light fixtures that each have a number so a tech person can easily turn them on and off and staged family photos meant to depict the fictional Wilcox family over the years.

In the set’s backyard, a life-size hologram of Bargatze greets tour attendees. “Looks like a pretty good group,” Bargatze said, tongue firmly in cheek. “No obvious duds in this group. You guys would win best group if we gave that out. We do not.”

Studio guests watch a hologram video presentation from comedian Nate Bargatze on the set of “The Breadwinner,” which starred Bargatze and was filmed at Trilith Studios in Fayetteville. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

Another soundstage includes an oversized Incredible Hulk sculpture, a cherry blossom tree used in “Captain America: Brave New World” and a resurrected set from “Saturday Night,” the 2024 film about opening night of “Saturday Night Live.”

The tour, of course, ends at a gift shop.

Willis, the Marvel enthusiast, said he loved the tour. “I was very inspired,” he said. “I’m a big-time video editor. It’s my dream to end up in a place like this and devote my life to this.”

Debbie Miller-Adams (center) and her husband, Larry Adams (right), pose for a photograph during the Trilith Foundation Studio Tour Experience on Thursday, June 11, 2026, in Fayetteville. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

While metro Atlanta features multiple location tours that take tourists to places seen on shows like “Stranger Things” and “The Walking Dead,” Trilith is the only studio in town that offers a behind-the-scenes tour.

Trilith was almost preceded by Tyler Perry Studios, which opened in its current location in 2019. Perry at the time publicly expressed a desire to set up public tours, potentially creating a fresh Atlanta tourist attraction.

But the pandemic put a kibosh on Perry’s plans. Six years later, a Perry spokesperson said she had no news about tours happening any time soon.