Avengers: Infinity War's concept artist has revealed there were fears that baddies the Outriders were too similar to Spider-Man's main villain Venom.
Speaking in Marvel's The Art of Avengers: Infinity War hardcover book, Jerad Marantz said the Outriders went through numerous design changes too insure they weren't too Venom-esque.
"I loved designing the Outriders. It was a real challenge," Marantz said.
"After looking at the source material, I wanted them to have a biomechanics quality to them. There was concern that the Outriders may look too much like a Venom symbiotic, and the challenge was to ensure they had a unique look.
"To achieve that, I decided to go biomechanical with them and incorporate the same shapes that are used in Thanos's armor and Proxima Midnight's and Corvus Glaive's."
The assassins, who Thanos unleashed on Wakanda in Infinity War, had to go through many redesigns of their heads until Marvel Studios' Head of Visual Development Ryan Meinerding, suggested Marantz should try giving them flatter teeth.
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"I was playing around with all different types of teeth options, and it was Ryan that suggested I make the teeth flat. It was a really good call," Marantz continued.
"The coolest thing about designing the Outriders was the assignment. This was the first time the Marvel Universe had an alien creature army — there have been aliens but not an army of beasts. It was an incredible opportunity to do something unique."
The Art of Avengers: Infinity War also includes details on how Marvel kept Loki's death a secret and how Thanos could be an even bigger threat than we imagined.
Avengers 4 will be released in the UK on April 26, 2019, and in the US on May 3, 2019. Avengers: Infinity War is out now on Blu-ray, DVD and digital download.
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Stephanie is a freelance news writer, who previously covered WWE and AEW for Digital Spy.
After graduating with a degree in history from Queen Mary University, London, she studied journalism at Birkbeck University.
Outside of her work at Digital Spy, she writes about pop culture, with a special focus towards Irish media and how it intersects with politics.
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