How do you bring Norse legends to the big screen in a way that makes sense for the Marvel Cinematic Universe while still preserving the essence of the characters? We sat down with former Marvel designer Charlie Wen to trace the evolution of several Thor fan favorites on their way to theaters.
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Plans were underway behind the scenes to give Thor and Loki yet another, different sibling — a brother who might be more familiar to comic book readers and lovers of Norse mythology. That's right, Balder the Brave was almost introduced to the MCU to further complicate Thor's family tree.
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It takes a lot more than accurately re-creating a comic book character's outfit on the big screen to make a superhero movie worth seeing. So what process took these relatively obscure Marvel D-listers into the mainstream? Here's what the Guardians of the Galaxy almost looked like.
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Ultron's design has changed in big and small ways with every new comics incarnation, meaning that the talented people in charge of adapting him for 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron had their work cut out for them in terms of coming up with a great cinematic design.
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Taking a comics character from the printed page to the big screen isn't as easy as you might think, and Guardians of the Galaxy's Gamora was no exception. Just ask Charlie Wen, former head of visual development at Marvel Studios — and take a look at some of the designs that didn't make the cut.
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Some Marvel Cinematic Universe stars have put such a stamp on their characters that it's become almost impossible to separate the two, and it's always a shock to realize that other actors might have been considered for a role — like Jason Momoa, who auditioned for Drax before becoming Aquaman.
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Charlie Wen, the man in charge of just about all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's designs over the past decade, sat for an exclusive interview with Looper to talk about how and why Iron Man was actually the perfect superhero to kickstart the MCU as we know it.
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Following the 2013 death of Fast and Furious franchise star Paul Walker, the Furious 7 team chose to implement CGI technology to recreate the actor. Looper recently spoke with Bill Brzeski, the production designer of Furious 7, who revealed the truth about recreating Paul Walker for the film.
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Looper had the chance to speak with Jumanji: The Next Level production designer Bill Brzeski, who opened up about what it really took to create the film's video game world — from location-scouting to set building to holding many important discussions.
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Something that's always drawn audiences to the Hobbit movies is the lush setting of Middle-earth, Tolkien's fictional world teeming with fantastical creatures and eye-catching landscapes. Filling Middle-earth and beyond in the Hobbit movies were thousands of props, all of which were handmade.
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One of the best things about Aquaman, apart from its status as a superhero origin story outfitted with an A-list cast, was its lush visuals. Looper had the chance to speak with Bill Brzeski, the production designer for Aquaman, who revealed what it really took to create the film's underwater world.
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The Fast and Furious franchise is famous for its high-octane car chases and spectacular crashes, but are all of those wild stunts really as dangerous as they look? Absolutely. Stunt driver and coordinator Robert Nagle shared with Looper his most harrowing Fast and Furious stunt experience.
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It wasn't easy for Christian Bale to prepare for director James Mangold's Ford v Ferrari, but it was worth the effort. Looper recently spoke with Ford v Ferrari stunt coordinator Robert Nagle about how he made the veteran actor road-ready. Here's the truth behind Bale's intense training for the pic.
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What makes the stunts in Michael Bay's new action opus look so good? Looper talked to Toby Segar, a member of the parkour collective Storror, which did the freerunning stunts in 6 Underground, to find out.
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You wouldn't think that Just Mercy, the award-nominated film starring Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx, would be a visual effects spectacular — and yet, it is. Looper recently spoke with the film's visual effects producer Matthew Akey, who revealed why Just Mercy has so many VFX shots.
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Underwater, the new sci-fi horror film from William Eubank, might be full of monsters and scares, but it's Kristen Stewart's platinum-blonde, shaved hairdo that has everyone talking. Underwater costume designer Dorotka Sapinska revealed the truth about Stewart's look in an interview with Looper.
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The Rise of Skywalker served as a final act for every character in the Skywalker saga, but it went above and beyond to honor Princess Leia and the actress who played her, Carrie Fisher. The film's editor, Maryann Brandon, recently explained to Looper what happened during Leia's final moments.
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On the surface, James Bond and 1917 don't have much in common. Speaking with Looper in a recent interview, Michael Lerman — who worked on 1917, Spectre, and Skyfall with Sam Mendes — revealed that 007 actually inspired and informed 1917 through almost every step of the production.
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Alice Krige might be playing the Witch in Gretel & Hansel, but the reimagining of the fairy tale isn't the first time that the veteran actress has played an iconic baddie. With Jean-Luc Picard back on the small screen, we thought it'd be interesting to ask Krige about her time as the Borg Queen.
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Jojo Rabbit doesn't look like a normal Holocaust film, and its protagonist's point-of-view comes through loud and clear in one of its most important props. It's a book which ends up being instrumental to the plot, and production designer Ra Vincent says it had a big influence on the production.
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The Apple TV+ series For All Mankind takes place on an Earth very much like ours, with (mostly) the same technology that real-life astronauts used in the early '70s. For All Mankind isn't just making stuff up — all the space-faring tech on the show is based on the real thing.
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Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the ninth feature film from Quentin Tarantino, takes place in 1969 — when Woodstock rocked the world, Easy Rider and Butch Cassidy ruled the box office, and the Manson family terrorized Southern California. Here's how the film brought the era to the big screen.
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It's been 17 years since Bad Boys II came out. Someone who was born in the same year the Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) and Mike Lowry (Will Smith) last appeared on the silver screen is now almost old enough to vote. So why release Bad Boys for Life in 2020, when the world seems to have moved on?
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Maybe you know Kevin Nealon from his nine-season stint on Saturday Night Live, his TV and film work, or his stand-up career. But maybe you know Nealon from his YouTube series Hiking with Kevin. Looper recently spoke with Nealon about what makes Hiking with Kevin so special.
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It would be easy to assume that Coyote Peterson is fearless. After all, the wildlife educator and popular YouTube star made his name by letting dangerous animals get up close and personal with him. But Peterson does get scared, and he shared with Looper his most frightening animal encounter.
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If you've seen a horror movie in theaters over the past decade, there's a good chance it came from Blumhouse. The prolific production company has been at the forefront of the horror scene since Paranormal Activity debuted in 2009. What's the secret to Blumhouse's success? We've got the answer.
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Writer and director Leigh Whannell's fresh take on H. G. Wells' sci-fi novel The Invisible Man isn't just one of the best horror films of 2020 — it's also a sharp-witted, modern update of the source material that's perfectly attuned to modern anxieties.
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