Though there’s no doubt The Suicide Squad is the brainchild of talented filmmaker James Gunn, it wouldn’t be as weird and wonderful looking if not for the work of concept artists. They’re hired to interpret different scenes and characters from the script through art, which filmmakers can then choose to use, or not. It’s a symbiotic relationship that only makes the end product better. On The Suicide Squad, one of those concept artists was Shane Baxley and Gizmodo has a look at some of his work today.
Baxley, who also recently worked on Loki, has contributed to Bumblebee, Alita: Battle Angel, and Captain Marvel, as well as the upcoming Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Blue Beetle, Peacemaker, Furiosa and even the Obi-Wan Kenobi show. (No, he can’t tell us about any of those).
Suffice to say, he’s as prolific as they come (see more of his work here, here, and here), so when he contacted Gizmodo with the offer of posting some of his work from Gunn’s latest, we jumped at the opportunity. (Side note: Baxley was left out of the film’s credits, though Gunn acknowledged him and others on Twitter last week). Check out just a small selection of Baxley’s work, including plenty of Starro, some of Harley Quinn’s big escape, and more. But beware, if you haven’t seen The Suicide Squad yet, there are some spoilers included.
Storming the Beach
An image from the action-packed opening of the film, which ends badly for everyone, except Harley.
Harley Vision
One of the film’s most exciting sequences is Harley’s escape, which is super violent until we begin to see it through her eyes, and everything is just flowers. We actually spoke to the production designer, Beth Mickle, all about it recently.
More Harley Vision
Another image from Harley’s escape — here with the flowers and blood a bit more blended.
Starro Babies
Here, Baxley did a close-up of what the little Starro’s looked like when they opened up to attach to a person’s face. Very Alien. Very gross. Very cool.
A Nod to Alien 3
Here’s Ratcatcher 2 hoping she can survive the escape of Starro. This particular image was obviously influenced by a very similar one of Ripley and a xenomorph in Alien 3.
Who Watches the Thinker?
After years of abuse and captivity, Starro sure does get revenge on The Thinker, and here’s Baxley’s interpretation of the moment before he gets torn to pieces.
Starro’s Escape
The finale of The Suicide Squad sees Starro escape from Jotunheim and destroy a city. Here’s an interpretation of how that scene would begin.
The Star of the Show
What does it look like when a giant starfish tries to attack a city like Godzilla? Well, something like this.
The Javelin Moment
What on Earth should she do with that javelin? At the end of The Suicide Squad, Harley figures it out. Fly through the air and pierce of eye of Starro. For more of Baxley’s work visit his offical site, Instagram, and Twitter.
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