In many ways, the costumes and color palette of James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy turned out to be just as important to defining the look and feel of the obscure franchise as the signature humor and actors were. That's always true when a filmmaker is trying to make a space opera of their own, but when James Gunn and Marvel set out to adapt the Guardians of the Galaxy comic books, they were faced with a number of difficult hurdles. Chief among them certainly, was finding the right balance between campy and cool with the film's visuals and costume designs.
Obviously, their decisions with the film ended up paying off in spades for the studio, filmmakers, and actors, when Guardians became one of the most critically acclaimed and financially successful superhero films of all time. It's always interesting, though, to see what some of the alternate choices the filmmakers might have considered when they were making films like these, with Marvel, in particular, having dozens and dozens of differerent, leftover character designs for their films.
Concept artist Andy Park has revealed one of his alternate Guardians of the Galaxy designs online today as well. The pieces in question imagine a much different, very armored look for Chris Pratt's Peter Quill/Star-Lord in the film, which Park describes as one of the "early" passes he did at designing the character. Take a look at the concept art below:
And here's yet another early pass at Starlord I painted during the beginning of production on #GuardiansoftheGalaxy This time I tried the full helmet look #starlord @prattprattpratt #chrispratt #conceptart #design #costume #pirate #illustration #instagood #instaart #marvelstudios #marvel A photo posted by Andy Park (@andyparkart) on
And here's the entire look at the early pass at Starlord I painted during the beginning of production on #GuardiansoftheGalaxy Going for a bit of a piecemealed feel with this one #starlord @prattprattpratt #chrispratt #conceptart #design #costume #pirate #illustration #instagood #instaart #marvelstudios #marvel A photo posted by Andy Park (@andyparkart) on
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Marvel has always been skillful at finding the right balance between staying true to the comics and bringing their own twist to their heroes' costumes onscreen. A great example of that would be the evolution of Captain America's (Chris Evans) outfit throughout the films, from the early 1940s military-style costume, the spandex-heavy version in The Avengers, to now the much slicker and tactical versions he's been wearing ever since The Winter Soldier. Star-Lord was another home run for the studio, and while he wasn't ever as well-known or beloved of a character as Cap is and was, James Gunn and Co. managed to still find a way to make his look both make sense and feel instantly recognizable.
Most of the Guardians' outfits seemed to have remained the same for the most part in the upcoming sequel, with only minor color changes being apparent so far. How exactly Star-Lord's look may change throughout the film is unknown, but his iconic mask has been featured rather heavily in all of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2's trailers so far. As opposed to the heavy armored version shown in this concept art, however, the film's version seems much more fitting of the slick, cowboy vibe that Pratt and Gunn have infused the character with. The armored version isn't all that different to be fair, but like many things in life, the costume just seems so much better with one of those red leather jackets.
Next: How a Groot Solo Movie Could Work
Source: Andy Park
