Creating superheroes
Trevor Hogg speaks to Ryan Meinerding from Marvel Studios about building superheroes
The Marvel head of visual development shares how he conceptualises superheroes and iconic moments
How Has your Role evolved since iron Man?
Back on Iron Man three of us did the design work – Phil Saunders, Adi Granov and I. Since then Marvel has grown and is doing many more movies, so we have in our current state about 30 artists working. I usually spearhead one or two movies at a time and we have another supervisor working under me named Andy Park. We have a core team of five fulltime guys. We have artists who are staffed on specific projects and there is some crossover if somebody has a specific skillset that can be used quickly for something else.
How Much Time is spent on a project?
It’s probably about seven to eight months full-time on one. We’re among the first to get started on things, sometimes even before the script. When the film goes into production our responsibilities get scaled back unless there are key frames or things that people want.
do discussions with producers commence THE look development?
When we get going we’ll have conversations about the tone and what they’re looking for. They can bring up specific moments they’d like to see. We’ll do our best to execute those, get notes and do revisions. But sometimes we do get a chance to say: ‘We’ve come up with this cool moment. What do you think?’ It’s fun that sometimes we’re able to provide things that help to inspire the writers, producers and directors.
is THERE Much interaction with OTHER colleagues?
We do interact with other people such as the costume designer, production designer and VFX supervisor, too, but we’re responsible for getting the designs approved by the director and producers on our own.
do you Build any environments?
We’re character design and key frame-focused. The key frames that we do are typically more about story and featuring characters. Anything that we do that has environments in is more to give a sense of place.
what is your look development process?
Whenever we work on a new character there’s always a
great deal of research to try to find inspiration. A lot of it comes from the comics. Some of the characters have 70 years of comic book tradition to go through. We try to find out what could be inspiring to translate into the story and how something from the comic could inspire the look to fit into the world that we want to create.
and for Black panther?
Black Panther is an interesting one because the character has had a few variations over the years but his costume remains similar. He felt like a superhero because he has a skin-tight black costume with a cool mask. We looked at the subtle nuances over the years and wondered whether to incorporate another value or tone such as silver or gold because both have been done in the comics. I wanted to find ways to really make that character feel unique. We looked at different weaving and patterns that have been used by African tribal cultures.
How Has THE design of captain america evolved?
Captain America has evolved so much that his costumes help to make his journey clear. We started off with him as a USO poster boy with a costume that felt soaked in patriotism. When he struck out on his own to become more of a soldier with that suit underneath it was a strong statement that ‘I’m a soldier not a performer’. Going from there to the final costume in The First Avenger felt like an evolution to a 1940s superhero.
Then you Have THE everchanging iron Man suit.
There’s a wealth of great places to go with Iron Man. A lot of it gets driven by the needs of that story – what he does, if he has a new feature. Early on we talked about it being like a new model year for a car. We have to keep him looking iconic as Iron Man but try to update him.
Besides THE splash panel, what were THE key frames you created for captain america: civil war?
We worked on some of the end fight sequence with Tony, Cap and Winter Soldier, and some of the specific beats of that fight. We did a lot of splash panel stuff as well as some cool frames that showed the Winter Soldier escaping from captivity.
what Tools and Techniques do you use?
Mostly we draw and paint in Photoshop using a Wacom tablet. Because our stuff is so character-focused and specific – such as a particular expression on a character to play off another – we have to draw and paint that image to bring it to life.
How do you Honour THE comic Book origins and look cinematic?
Our luxury is that we have 60 to 70 years of imagery that defines these iconic characters. Our job is to reveal that icon through the world of the movie. With Iron Man that can be with great finishes and forms. Early on we boiled down that Iron Man needed shoulder pads, boots, an arc reactor and a helmet.
what Has Been your Biggest challenge?
Every movie has challenges. Black Panther was a big challenge. I was worried about having the black costume look cosplay. That suit is the most detailed thing I’ve ever designed.
are THERE any key frames THAT you were Happy To see on THE Big screen?
Andy Park has done a lot of great key frames for the splash panel fight. There are a lot of different shots of Giant-man. That scene is amazing and turned out to be a lot of people’s favourite.
Marvel’s character design team create splash panels in movies such as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2