When Marvel finally revealed Matt Murdock’s look in the red costume made famous by the Daredevil comics (and Ben Affleck’s previous leather-clad run as the blind vigilante), the response wasn’t all that bad. If the comments section was any indication, most of you really, really liked the series and thought the costume was okay (i.e. No Affleck, no leather). But what went into the design process behind creating and settling on Murdock’s (Charlie Cox) final appearance?
According to Marvel, the studio’s usual use-a-hell-of-a-lot-of-people approach was in full force. Between executive producer Joe Quesada, design team leader Ryan Meinerding, and the team itself, at least seven people contributed to the mix:
“Our whole team actually did designs, [including] Rodney Fuentebella, Andy Park, Jackson Sze, Josh Nizzi and Anthony Francisco. I think we all did a round of designs as fast as we could, and they settled on one of mine. Beyond that, we did our normal process of modeling the head and the cowl [in] 3D with Josh Herman, and then I was involved throughout the costume creation process.”
Here’s the concept art from Meinerding that was ultimately chosen for the show:
You’ve already seen the final suit in action, but how does it compare to the design on which it was based? If anything, it seems like Meinerding’s horns were filed down a bit for the actual helmet-and-cowl the team made for the show.
Quesada — one of the Marvel execs who was actually making decisions — loved it:
“The horns are iconic, and we had to be careful as to how we handled them,” remarks Quesada. “I think what Ryan did is absolutely spectacular, when you really look at the structure of the helmet and the horns, because those can be done in a way where they actually look silly. He created an architectural design, an angular design for the horns, that just feels natural to the cowl.”
We’ll just have to wait and see whether or not it sticks for season two.
(Via Marvel)
