Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3's main villain, Chukwudi Iwuji's High Evolutionary, almost looked way different than the version fans saw in theaters.
Marvel Studios is known for being quite flexible with visual designs for some of its characters, seen recently in Skaar in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and MODOK in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.
Guardians 3 continued this theme with the High Evolutionary, who had fans waiting to see what he would do on screen after a couple of scary moments in the movie's promotional tour.
And while the story behind this villain was Iwuji's breathtaking performance in the role, the character's visual look started plenty of chatter amongst fans as well.
Guardians 3 Villain Gets Different Look in New Art
Marvel Studios Director of Visual Development Andy Park took to Twitter to share early pieces of concept art showing off a different look for Chukwudi Iwuji's High Evolutionary, the powerful main villain from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Park noted that this was one of his first passes at the character from a few years ago, teasing the fun that he had developing different concepts for the Guardians 3 villain:
"'Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3' CONCEPT ART! The fun part of concept art is exploring the possibilities. This was one of my 1st passes at High Evolutionary many years ago during preproduction. Much fun was had in these explorations"
Park's concept art took inspiration from the comics, using a light pink color for the High Evolutionary rather than the bright maroon that was seen on the pages of Marvel Comics.
For the movie, director James Gunn used a purple outfit for the High Evolutionary that looked similar in design to his comic counterpart, utilizing Iwuji's face with some prosthetic make-up instead of a completely mechanical look.
Will Fans See Guardians 3 Villain Again?
While the High Evolutionary is far from the only MCU villain to look slightly different from what was seen in the comics, Guardians 3 made sure that the visuals were in service of the incredible acting that Iwuji delivered in playing the part.
And after fans reacted so passionately to seeing Iwuji's villain take the spotlight for the first time, the question now becomes whether he'll reprise his role in the MCU again, especially with James Gunn now moving over full-time to DC.
The end of Guardians 3 indicated that the High Evolutionary actually survived the final battle, with the villain being "imprisoned on Knowhere" as the Guardians went their separate ways.
And with Guardians of the Galaxy 4 still potentially on the table after the epic conclusion for this specific team, the door could still be open for Iwuji to make a comeback and bring this villain design to the forefront again.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is now playing in theaters.
