Following the release ofGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the High Evolutionary has quickly become one of the most memorable villains in the MCU. While Chukwudi Iwuji’s portrayal played a significant role in the character’s success, the character’s design was just as integral to achieving his cruel, off-putting presence.InGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the High Evolutionary’s on-screen design differs from his comic book design. In the comics, the High Evolutionary has a sleek, robotic-looking design. His entire body is covered in a pink-colored metal suit broken up by silver metallic pieces, giving him the appearance of a machine rather than a man. InGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the High Evolutionary has a slightly more human design. In Rocket’s flashbacks, the audience sees the High Evolutionary at his most human-looking, before he incorporates so much technology into his anatomy. For most of the movie, the audience sees theHigh Evolutionary in his most current form- mostly robotic with a few human features remaining. The most notable of these features is his face, which is stretched over robotic parts rather than muscle and bone.RELATED:Vin Diesel Clarifies Groot’s Confusing Final Line In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3According toAndy Park, the Marvel Studios Director of Visual Development, the version of the High Evolutionary audiences saw inGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3wasn’t the original idea. Originally, Park designed something much closer tothe High Evolutionary’s comic book design. On May 25, Park shared a piece of concept art he’d worked on duringGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s preproduction on Twitter. “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,” he said.
Most responding fans praised the concept art, but some asked questions about the changes between the concept art and the final design. @1tonpayton asked, “Any particular reason the colour palette ended up more purple in the end?” @NgwenyaTM echoed this question, saying, “Interesting to see you had a red-er idea for him. Why did you decide to go purple? Did you not worry that he’d be just another purple villain? (Thanos, Kang, etc).”
Park didn’t answer these questions in the comments, so fans don’t have an official answer on what led to the design changing drastically. @NgwenyaTM’s comment raises a good question: is Marvel Studios worried about their big villains having the same palette and being less distinguishable? So far, the answer seems to be no. It almost seems like an intentional choice. Rather than making them less individualistic, giving villains a similar color palette makes them visually different from the heroes.
If accurate, the strategy would be similar to one Disney has employed for years: using the color greenfor villains like Scar, Maleficent, and Ursula to distinguish them from the movies' protagonists. Since Disney owns Marvel Studios, this could be the case.
