This isn't the first time Marvel has de-aged one of their actors. Michael Douglas almost looked exactly like he did in Wall Street in the Ant-Man flashback where Hank Pym confronted his S.H.I.E.L.D. superiors, while Robert Downey Jr. was turned into his early '90s self in the Captain America: Civil War scene where Tony Stark spoke to his parents for the last time. However, those were primarily accomplished through digital movie-making magic, whereas with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, there seems to be a closer split between the visual effects and the makeup. That said, despite what Russell's insistence, there's only so much that makeup can do, so it's fortunate we live in an age where these techniques are not only readily available to blockbuster filmmakers, but the end results look so accurate.