The summer has been filled with a ton of terrific comic book movies, including Spider-Man: Homecoming and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but arguably the best of the bunch has been Wonder Woman. It was a fantastic movie filled with a cohesive storyline and engaging characters, but it did fall short in one area: its villain.
Ares was a worthy opponent for Wonder Woman, but he left a lot to be desired, most notably his looks. Concept artist Peter McKinstry took to Instagram to reveal a much more badass version of the characters, who was eventually toned down for the movie.
In the movie’s climactic scene where Wonder Woman goes head to head with one of her greatest foes, Ares is much more reserved. The design that was settled upon puts an emphasis on showing actor David Thewlis’ face, even while in full armor. This contrasts dramatically with the Ares most of us are familiar with, which uses a black tone for his face with bright red eyes. The look is definitely more menacing than the one the movie portrays.
McKinstry’s design looks more akin the the Ares featured in the comic books, with a few tweaks. Instead of the cartoony take, Ares looks like a Greek warrior. He has a sword and shield on his hands with a vast armor across his torso and frame. The crowning feature of the design is the helmet that looks like some sort of beast roaring with long horns and sharp teeth. And instead of showing off a man’s face, it shows off a threatening dark figure with red eyes.
Not sure why the design was changed, but it was. It didn’t end up hurting the movie too much, as Wonder Woman was a runaway success.
