While it was released a month ago, conversation regarding James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 have only continued. With the sequel becoming another one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's critical darlings, the folks behind Guardians 2 have begun to share more information about the development process. One of the ways this occurs is through unused concept art, which shows possible designs for the Marvel characters. An alternate design for Kurt Russell's Ego the Living Planet was just released, and the look was pretty different from what we ended up seeing on the silver screen. Check it out.
Holy Game of Thrones. The above concept art (created and shared by Andy Park) is vastly different from what ended up in the film, but it's no less cool. Let's break down this look.
To start, this concept art of Ego has a much more medieval feel than Kurt Russell's costume in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. While the film version of Ego still had a cape and a clear influence from medieval costumes, Andy Park's version looks like it's straight out of an episode of HBO's Game of Thrones. Ego is sitting on a throne and drinking wine, looking like a male version of Cersei Lannister. And rather than wearing any traces of armor, Ego is wearing more flowing and comfortable garb. Additionally, he seems to have skipped putting on shoes. Perhaps the lack of footwear originally served as a hint that his humanoid figure wasn't all it originally appeared to be.
Although the concept art for Ego was quite different than the costume we saw in Guardians 2, I think James Gunn and company likely made the right choice. Rather than a Westerosi outift, Ego ended up looking much more cohesive to the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. He and Mantis's designs complimented each other, while still allowing their design to function within the larger ensemble.
The overall design of Guardians 2 is part of what made the film such a unique moviegoing experience. While apart of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, James Gunn's franchise is one of the more unique properties in the shared universe. The characters are more irreverent, niche comedy and references are present, and there's talking Raccoons and Tree aliens.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 may still be playing in a few theaters, and the next installment in the MCU is Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 7th, 2017. Be sure to check our full 2017 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
