Zack Snyder’s Justice League was a four-hour feast for the eyes. Overall, it takes a lot of work to realize and commit something this large, and epic, to film. Of course, I didn’t even think about all the less important creatures like the Apokoliptians that comprise Darkseid’s army, or a quick blink-or-you’ll-miss-it cameo. Even those less important aspects, that audience members may likely not even register immediately, require a ton of work. Thankfully, concept artist Jerad Marantz wants to show us just how much work went into them with some early looks at Apokoliptians, and Green Lantern Kilowog.
Just a little background on Marantz; he’s a very prolific artist who’s worked on tons of superhero flicks… and that’s no exaggeration. Looking through his IMDB, you’ll see that he’s pretty much worked with all the studios, to help conceptualize several modern comic-book movies. He’s worked with Fox on X-Men: Days of Future Past and Apocalypse, as well as Marvel for Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. Most importantly to us, he was the costume concept artist for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League. So, even if you don’t know his name, you’ve definitely seen at least some of his work, if you’re reading this article.
Early looks at Apokoliptians
First, let’s talk about the cohesive look of the Apokoliptians. Obviously, while we’re watching the movie, we’re only focused on the biggest baddies and A-list names. So much so, that we don’t notice the characters in the background that were clearly given a ton of thought.
Most recently, Marantz has shared early looks at Apokoliptians guards and pilots.
Check it out:
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Very cool. I just love that, for the most part, they’re big, bulky, and sport very spiky, jagged armor, like uncle Steppenwolf. As you can see though, they’re physically very different. The guards are meant to be massive, hulking figures being the first line of defense. The pilots, however, have a different use, so do not need all that bulk. Like I said, lots of thought was put into their designs. Also, that art style is pretty nuts, right?
Wait, he was in the movie?
Umm, I had no idea that Green Lantern Kilowog was featured in the flick very briefly. Apparently, he was not the Lantern fighting alongside the Terrans against the Apokoliptians. Instead, he’s in the smallest of cameos… and he’s kind of part of the scenery. I’m not going to spoil it for you, so you’ll have to look it up if you want to know. Note: It ain’t pretty. So that blew my mind the first time. Kilowog blew my mind a second time when Marantz shared another early look at the Bolovaxian superhero.
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The caption says that Marantz wanted more of a Pitbull look, however, I definitely don’t see it in the face. Pitties have much softer features and larger eyes. Perhaps, it’s in the jowls? I’m more so seeing it in the ears. Do you see the Pitbull inspiration?
Lastly, just because we’re all Batfans here, here’s an early look at Batfleck’s suit, that Marantz shared a few weeks ago.
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It’s more armored than the suit we saw in BvS, but it still retains the fabric, and kevlar. The only problem is that Batfleck looks way stockier than the illustrations of him.
What do you think of these early looks at Apokoliptians and Kilowog? Would you like to explore more of the Apokoliptian world? Do you think we’ll get to see Kilowog in action again? Let me know.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is currently streaming on HBO Max in the US.
Source: Comicbook.com
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