It has been so long since the cinematic masterpiece that was Infinity War was released into the theatres. And yet, new imagery of Infinity War continues to astound us to this day. A new image belonging to a concept art that was scrapped showed an even more horrifying version of the Outrider army that fought the Avengers and the forces of Wakanda in Avengers: Infinity War.
Jerad S. Marantz was the official Marvel artist who was tasked with drawing up stunning artworks to be used as concept designs to be adapted into the movie. He has been frequently uploading new images that he drew during his Infinity War phase. And his most recent post shows us a completely different look for the Outriders than what we remember them as. Presenting – Thanos’ Outrider army in Infinity War had a look even more terrifying than Venom’s!!
Here is the Instagram post of his that got everyone’s attention:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs5__x1FAnR/?utm_source=ig_embed
Marantz writes and we quote:
“One of the many design options for the #outriders for #avengersinfinitywar This One was pretty extreme, but during the design process you always want to see how far you can go before they reel you back in.”
Marantz is not someone to be taken lightly. He has been a part of major Hollywood blockbusters. Amongst his many projects in the movie making industry, most of them have been Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange, and Captain America: Civil War has all been witness to Marantz’s skills. He has also taken part in several other non-Marvel projects like I, Frankenstein, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. His latest project will be the upcoming Spiderman: Far From Home and the Gambit movie under Sony Pictures Entertainment.
The look of Thanos’ personal army is something straight out of the horror movies. We can clearly see that artist was inspired from the Xenomorphs from the Alien franchise and Venom from Marvel Comics itself. The look and feel of the artwork resonate with those examples quite well. Jerad S. Marantz surely did not factor in the fact that it is a PG-13 rated movie. Infinity War probably could not include this design for the Outriders because they most probably deemed it to be too dark and violent for their target audience.
To be honest, the Outriders in the Marvel Comics were also scary looking. Take this picture for example:
The design of the Outriders in the comic books is significantly different than what we see in the movies. The movie made the Outriders bulkier and bigger. When the Outriders first debuted in the comic books in the year 2013, they were the primary infantry soldiers and shock troops for Thanos the Mad Titan. Their task was to invade worlds en masse and destroy those races that could not produce a tribute worthy of the stature of the Mad Titan.
In the comics, the Outriders had additional abilities. They could fly at great speeds and to great distances. They also had the ability to turn invisible and the power of telepathy. One more power that they had was the power to pass through solid objects aka intangibility.
The Outriders are known for their savage fighting styles and their horrendous looks. Marvel tried to add a tinge of family-friendliness to their looks and the plan worked. We did not see enough of the Outriders top actually point out enough flaws but after looking at this artwork, we are left to wonder – What was Marvel thinking?!?!?
The last Avengers movie to be released under the MCU banner was Avengers: Infinity War. The official film synopsis for the movie reads:
Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk and the rest of the Avengers unite to battle their most powerful enemy yet — the evil Thanos. On a mission to collect all six Infinity Stones, Thanos plans to use the artefacts to inflict his twisted will on reality. The fate of the planet and existence itself has never been more uncertain as everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment.
