Skip to main content

Q&A with Andy Park, Marvel Studios' God of the Pen


Although Captain Marvel is not due in theaters until 2019, the road to the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first female-led movie is fraught with hellish villains.

Last year saw Chris Hemsworth's Thor squaring off against the MCU's first female baddie: Cate Blanchett as Hela.

The man suffusing the screen with such empowered women is none other than Marvel Studios' visual development supervisor Andy Park. The illustrious Korean-American concept artist oversees the team helping Marvel comic book characters make the high-stakes journey from print to live action.

Park, who had paid his dues illustrating for various Marvel titles as well as the Tomb Raider comic books, has been designing concept art for Marvel Studios since 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger.

In the run-up to this week's release of Avengers: Infinity War, he and several other leading artists at Marvel Studios are engrossed with the release of a companion art book, The Road to Infinity War.

Park, a former concept artist for the God of War games, will loose his art next on July's Ant-Man and The Wasp and next year's highly anticipated Brie Larson vehicle.

In this exclusive interview with Cautionary Women, Park looks back on his groundbreaking work with the Asgardian goddess of death and toward the future of female representation in the MCU.

Can you tell us about your design process for Hela?

I truly had the most fun designing Hela for Thor: Ragnarok. Her look from the comic books is so extreme and wicked with her headdress, costume, and overall evil appearance. It’s always fun designing villains. As with all of the characters we design here at Marvel Studios, we start by looking at the source material. Hela has been depicted in various ways by great comic book artists such as Jack Kirby, Walter Simonsson, Alan Davis, and Olivier Coipel, among others. I use that as a starting point. And I try to figure out how to bring a reality to the character. Things that look great in a comic book doesn’t always translate to real life. So I have to conceptualize how to bring her look to real life. What do I include and what do I change? And of course the story we tell will necessitate how I design her.

To what extent did you veer from the comic-book version in bringing Hela to the screen?

Taika Waititi really wanted to capture the look and feel from the comics, particularly from Jack Kirby. This whole movie was essentially a dedication to the comic book great. So he really pushed me to try to capture the essence of her comic book look. I was happy to oblige.


Let's talk about Hela's stunning headdress. At what point did you decide the version as it appears on the movie was right?

I did dozens upon dozens of variations on her headdress. That is what it takes for them (the director and producers) to finally decide on what is the right look for Hela’s “antlers.” I tried everything, big and small, to simple and elaborate. It was quite a journey to finally land on her final look(s).

Did Cate have any input on the costume?

As far as I know Cate didn’t really have any input on the costume. She was the epitome of perfect casting. Her performance was amazing and she embodied the character of Hela.

Which female villains in the Marvel universe are you looking forward to work on?

Not on purpose by any means, but I did end up designing a lot of the female characters in the MCU from Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Gamora, Nebula, Mantis, Wasp, Hela to the upcoming Captain Marvel.  It’s an honor to design any of these powerful women and I look forward to the many more in the future.

Learn more about Andy at AndyParkArt.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Dress as Bellatrix Lestrange

With the closing of the Harry Potter movie series in July, Bellatrix Lestrange has emerged as the woman to be for Halloween 2011. Who wouldn't want to be her? Witches are the empresses of Halloween. Wickedest of wicked witches, Bellatrix is not above placing Cruciatus hexes on you. Here's how to dress up as Bellatrix for Halloween: 1. Wand Get into character with a Harry Potter wand. Your Bellatrix getup is incomplete without it. Like its owner, Bellatrix's wand can be described as "unyielding." Her first and more iconic of two wands is curved and made of walnut, with dragon heartstring for core. You can make do with intricate  wand replicas . 2. Costume Bellatrix is often clad in a black dress with detached sleeves held on to the top by way of strings. A leather-looking corset also girths her. You can get a good bargain on ready-made Bellatrix costumes here .  But you'd be surprised how easy it is to DIY Bellatrix's costume using ol...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Dress as Morticia Addams

All Hallow's Eve is fast approaching. From now until the macabre occasion, Cautionary Women will give you tips and tricks on what is Halloween all about: dressing up! To start, let's try to get the look of Morticia Addams, one of the reigning queens of Halloween. Anjelica Huston as Morticia Addams Now Morticia, the iconic matriarch of the Addams Family, is scarcely the evil woman pictured here at Cautionary Women. She is rather something of a paradox: scary-looking but kind (in the way she knows how), intimidating but approachable (again, in the way she knows how). She is just eerie, not evil. Carolyn Jones as Morticia Yet Morticia can give any superbly nefarious queen a run for her money. Whether on TV, film, or anywhere The Addams Family franchise is splayed, Morticia commands attention with her spine-tingling style. Sure she may be fundamentally good and all, but try running into her on a solitary road at night. Here's how to be Morticia Addams for...
3 comments
Read more

How to Dress as Madam Mim

Photo via Heider Carlos Eat your heart out, Mystique. The magnificent, marvelous, mad Madam Mim from The Sword in the Stone has the shapeshifting business down pat. With powers of transfiguration rivalled only by Merlin and Maleficent, Madam Mim is a one-size-fits-all Disney villain. This is the sorceress with the ability to turn herself from this: To this: Madam Mim can reverse ageing and shed weight for the fraction of time it takes Ursula to morph into Vanessa. In hindsight, Mother Gothel should have just asked Mim for tips instead of committing all those crimes in pursuit of rejuvenation. Hair via New Republic Be beautiful, lovely and fair, have some silvery voice, but never forget the long purple hair! The lavender wig is essential if you intend to channel the scourge of Camelot. If you want to be skinny Madam Mim, go for the longest wig . The older, plumper Mim would opt for a shoulder-length one . Either way, give the wig a little tousle for that truly ...
Post a Comment
Read more