Talking to Marvel.com to promote the upcoming home release of the $1.5 billion box office hit, visual development supervisor Charlie Wen has shared a few new details about how Tom Hiddleston's 'Loki' costume for The Avengers was designed and developed, addressing both the story and visual reasons for such alterations. Check out his comments (and some concept art) below and then sound off with your thoughts in the usual place!
On How Loki's Costume Progressed From THOR To Marvel's The Avengers:
As far as character designs that were practical, he was my favorite one to redesign this time around. [Director] Joss [Whedon] wanted Loki to seem like he travelled to places we don’t know of--he’s changed since we last saw him in “Thor.” The metals on his costume are more worn and scratched, and he’s darker. Because of that, we were able to treat his metal more like actual armor and make it feel like it’s been used. This was the first time we were able to do this with Loki, so it makes him look more authentic since he looks worn and not so brand new. There’s more culture to it.
On How They Went About Making The Costume Practical For Actor Tom Hiddleston:
A big part was in his arms and body--his walking around costume didn’t have the armor on his upper arm, as well as some armor going down his torso. It doesn’t look like he’s ready for battle or anything. I just added a layer onto it to make sure it would work out and fit.
On The Importance Of Loki's Helmet And The Iconic Silhouette It Casts:
A lot of that comes from the gesture of his horns, the curve that comes outwards towards you but curves back towards him. That gesture is pretty aggressive at the beginning, then curves down towards his spine. It does more of a whiplash thing towards the audience or whoever he’s looking at. It’s already a type of in-your-face thing. For me, that was the biggest part of his initial read, to make sure that gesture came across. I do like his helmet better this time around too. It’s more aggressive. The horns in the first helmet went straight up and curled around to the back. This time around, I wanted to treat it more like something that came forward towards you first, then tilted back. They’re a bit longer and thinner, which is something to make him look more mischievous and more of who his character is. I felt like I got to play more into what his character is to be shown on his costume.
Marvel Studios presents in association with Paramount Pictures Marvel’s The Avengers--the super hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel super heroes Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins.
STARRING:
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America
Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man
Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Ramanoff/Black Widow
Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson
Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill
Tom Hiddleston as Loki
RELEASE DATE: September 17th, 2012 (UK) September 25th, 2012 (US)