Check out my interview with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 concept artist Michael Kutsche!
Sony just released the release date for the blockbuster hit The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Blu-Ray and it's August 19, 2014. The package promises to be huge with an Amazon Exclusive The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Electro Collector's Edition
with the
head of the main villain
Electro. It also promises to have deleted
scenes
that may include scenes with Shailene Woodley as Mary-Jane
Parker. It may have a gallery of concept art since one section is
described as "'Triple Threat: Attack of the Villains' — An inside look
at the development of Spider-Man’s fearsome foes, Electro, the Green
Goblin and Rhino." Unfortunately, Sony Pictures has refused to allow
artists to
release artwork from the film. So while the film is gorgeous the
artists haven't been able to share their amazing work. One artist that I'm especially sad to miss is Michael Kutsche. Kutsche is a professional concept artist who's worked on big budget movies like Oz: The Great and Powerful (2013), Thor (2011) and John Carter (2012). I got a brief interview with him and he shares some incredible insights from working on the movie. Sony Pictures refused to release Kutsche's artwork from the film, but you can get a good feel for his style from his personal work along with some wonderful pieces from Maleficent.
Click on the images to enlarge.
Maurice Mitchell: How did you get this job and what did you work on for the film?
Michael Kutsche: I was contacted by one of the producers early on the project and was asked to work on the costume design for Electro in two stages.
MM: Is there any experience that stands out while designing for the movie?
MK: It was actually a very pleasant experience since I only had to do a few versions until the Director approved the design.
MM: You've done work for Marvel Studios and Sony. Would you say there's a big difference in their approach to superhero films?
MK: The biggest difference is that Marvel is exclusively taking care of turning their own material into films, so it kind of stays in the family while Sony isn't just specialized in comic book adaptations. Both put a lot of love in these films and gather a talented group of people to create them, but of course Marvel has to keep track of a larger group of recurring characters so they have to make sure that their costume designs have an overall coherence (same goes of course for everything else from script writing to marketing) since they literally all belong to the same universe.
MM: I never thought about how tightly they have to control the artwork. Like on The Avengers all the characters had to share a color scheme. Where will your next project be seen?
MK: I did a bunch of characters on Maleficent. The next one to be released, which has been pushed to February 2015, is the Wachowskis' Jupiter Ascending. I'm currently working on Through the Looking Glass (Alice in Wonderland 2), directed by James Bobin and The Jungle Book which is directed by Jon Favreau.
Here's some of Michael's personal work over the years.
See more of Michael Kutsche's beautifully haunting portfolio at http://michaelkutsche.com
Click on the links if you want to see more of Michael Kutsche's work or The Amazing Spider-Man 2 on my blog.
What do you think of the concept art? If you've seen The Amazing Spider-Man 2 what do you think of the differences between Sony and Marvel?
Official The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Synopsis
"We’ve always known that Spider-Man’s most important battle has been within himself: the struggle between the ordinary obligations of Peter Parker and the extraordinary responsibilities of Spider-Man. But in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Peter Parker finds that a greater conflict lies ahead. It’s great to be Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield). For Peter Parker, there’s no feeling quite like swinging between skyscrapers, embracing being the hero, and spending time with Gwen (Emma Stone). But being Spider-Man comes at a price: only Spider-Man can protect his fellow New Yorkers from the formidable villains that threaten the city. With the emergence of Electro (Jamie Foxx), Peter must confront a foe far more powerful than he. And as his old friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), returns, Peter comes to realize that all of his enemies have one thing in common: OsCorp."
Directed by Marc Webb
Starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Campbell Scott, Embeth Davidtz, Colm Feore, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field
Cinematography by Daniel Mindel
Production Design by J. Michael Riva
Official Site: theamazingspiderman.com
Release date: April 16, 2014 (International), May 2, 2014 (USA)
© Copyright 2014 Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment
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Nice interview and it's great that you two touched on the differences between Marvel's big-screen adaptations and that of Sony's film adaptations. It's a comparison that I haven't really put much thought into...probably because I've been seldom to follow comics until they've already been adapted into movies. The only exception is X-Men, for which I read a few comic books from when I was a kid. It makes sense for Marvel to be more meticulous in making sure the concepts in their movies match up to the overall continuity of everything else going on in the Marvel universe.
ReplyDeleteThere's so much at stake in terms of authenticity and consistency that it is understandable that they would want to develop their characters as closely as possible. The samples of Kutsche's work are vivid and look really nice. Just when I thought I had written "Maleficient," off as something I wasn't in a hurry to watch...the interest in checking it out is growing by the day.
Thanks Nicole. Michael does amazing work doesn’t he? I heard that’s one of the reasons they kicked off the Ant-Man director (guy who can shrink to ant-size and back). Edgar Wright wanted his movie to be different and there’s too much at stake to change the formula. As a movie maker I’m sure you know how important consistency is. Well, Marvel sees all their films as one long continuous movie and that takes a ton of coordination I bet. Sony gets to relax a little since they’re starting from the ground floor with a smaller number of characters.
ReplyDeleteAs for "Maleficient," I still haven’t seen it, but Michael’s artwork definitely moves it to the watch list.