BLACK PANTHER Concept Art Reveals A Comic Accurate Take On Erik Killmonger's Costume

Marvel Studios concept artist Rodney Fuentebella has shared an early design for Erik Killmonger in Black Panther which has a lot in common with the character's comic book counterpart. Check it out...

By JoshWilding - Apr 02, 2020 01:04 PM EST

Filed Under: Black Panther

Black Panther was the first Marvel Studios movie to earn a "Best Picture" nomination, and it's not hard to see why. It boasted some terrific actors, strong character work, and a lot of very relevant themes. Plus, unlike many of the other films set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the movie featured a great villain in the form of Michael B. Jordan's Erik Killmonger.

His version of the character featured similarities to the version from the comic books, but not in terms of appearance. Now, though, concept artist Rodney Fuentebella has shared an unused design from the Marvel Studios movie.

Described as an "advanced camo look" by the artist, this version looks like he's stepped straight out of the source material (mask and all). Fans definitely would have appreciated seeing this on the big screen, but Killmonger did don a mask in Black Panther, and ultimately looked pretty badass in his own version of T'Challa's iconic costume.

There have been rumblings that Killmonger will return in Black Panther 2, but that seems unlikely considering how his story ended in the 2018 movie. However, it is possible that T'Challa will see him in Djalia, the mystical Wakandan plane we first spent time in during Black Panther when the titular hero communicated with his father, T'Chaka.

Check out the concept art below:

View this post on Instagram

Here is an early concept I did for Killmonger in Black Panther. I was going for an advanced camo look. Also I wanted to paint dappled light. Enjoy! - @marvelstudios #blackpanther #killmonger #conceptart #digitalpainting #film #characterdesign @rodneyimages

A post shared by Rodney Fuentebella (@rodneyimages) on Mar 6, 2020 at 3:54pm PST

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39 Comments

MosquitoFarmer - 4/2/2020, 1:03 PM

RolandD - 4/2/2020, 1:05 PM

@MosquitoFarmer - That’s about what I thought. 😂

Ha1frican - 4/2/2020, 1:06 PM

I like what we got personally

RolandD - 4/2/2020, 1:06 PM

I am all for comic book accuracy most of the time, but this may be one of the times that it was better not to go with that. I do sometimes think it would have been better if Killmonger hadn’t worn a Panther suit, but the movie didn’t suffer from it.

RolandD - 4/2/2020, 1:07 PM

@RolandD - Even if it had been just a little more differentiation through the use of different glowing color schemes.

Reeds2Much - 4/2/2020, 2:27 PM

@RolandD - the movie didn’t suffer from it

Narratively it didn't suffer. Badly animated, though.

QuietStorm - 4/2/2020, 1:07 PM

I like it. But my first thought was of Predators. Still think Killmonger's Golden Jaguar might be top 5 costume in the MCU
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/avp/images/e/e5/Window109.PNG/revision/latest?cb=20120620140713

GhostDog - 4/2/2020, 1:09 PM

Looks cool as hell, but what we got was really good.

THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - 4/2/2020, 1:09 PM

Way better than the copycat Black Panther suit.

THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - 4/2/2020, 1:09 PM

@THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - No pun intended

GhostDog - 4/2/2020, 1:15 PM

Still a crime that they CGI'd his suit in that final battle when what they had practically was so damn good

Kumkani - 4/2/2020, 1:38 PM

Top 3 MCU villain

knocturnalzen10 - 4/2/2020, 3:02 PM

@Necropolitan - hands down! thanos and loki are only better better because they've had more films for character development.

Tonic24k - 4/2/2020, 1:41 PM

Concept art articles are my least favorite articles. Really wish I could filter them out...

LongMayHeReign - 4/2/2020, 2:00 PM

@Tonic24k - Can't you filter them out by...you know...not clicking the link?

NinnesMBC - 4/2/2020, 1:55 PM

Hmm a Predator vibe. Not bad I suppose.

4thMaster - 4/2/2020, 2:56 PM

I would have kept the mask, maybe added it to his suit at the end rather than what he had.

DannRamm113 - 4/2/2020, 2:57 PM

I dont think we ever truly got a great frame of the Kilmonger suit in the movie, and that was my biggest problem with the costume. It just looked like another Panther suit with a little gold.

Kilmonger is still my favorite villain in the MCU tho. I was actually thinking that there is a lack of African american main villains in CBMs, we have Killmonger, Manta (he was secondary but hopefully hell get bumped up) and...the dude in Superman 3 sorta?

inkniron - 4/2/2020, 5:18 PM

I like it. I helps differentiate them. Wasn't a fan of using a Panther suit, but oh well

BLACK PANTHER Concept Art Reveals A Comic Accurate Take On Erik Killmonger's Costume

Marvel Studios concept artist Rodney Fuentebella has shared an early design for Erik Killmonger in Black Panther which has a lot in common with the character's comic book counterpart. Check it out...

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