BLACK PANTHER: Jaw Dropping New Concept Art Reveals Alternate Designs For Killmonger's Panther Suit

In this new batch of concept art from Black Panther, we get to see a number of different designs for Erik Killmonger's Golden Jaguar suit, including different colours and plenty of fearsome alterations...

Josh Wilding | 3/2/2018

Black Panther is now in theaters and it's breaking countless box office records. The movie feels like more than just Marvel's latest effort to expand its Cinematic Universe too because the cultural importance of the Ryan Coogler helmed release is massive and given the success it's found, it's clear that T'Challa is going to have a huge impact on the genre and could become the face of this world.

To celebrate the movie's release last month, we're taking a look at some amazing Black Panther concept art and the time is right to put the focus on Michael B. Jordan's villainous Killmonger.

In the movie's final act, the new King of Wakanda decked himself out in a suit of his own and he looked, well, fierce! This artwork reveals how Marvel's team of concept artists brought that to life, revealing different colour schemes, designs, and ideas which failed to make it to the big screen. So, to take a look at the full list, all you need to do is click on the buttons below to check them all out...

The Silver Jaguar

When Killmonger dons his own Black Panther suit after being named King of Wakanda, it glows with a yellow kinetic energy which makes it look very cool. However, Marvel clearly considered silver at one point and while it doesn't look quite as good, it would have made for a striking visual.

...And The Purple One

T'Challa suit has a purple kinetic blow and it looks like Marvel briefly considered giving the same one to Killmonger. That would have made more sense (after all, why was the colour different in his?) but the final battle wouldn't have looked anywhere near as good if that had been the case.

A Villainous Black Panther

Here, we see Killmonger's suit minus any kinetic energy and there's no denying that he looks like a total badass. The costume is incredibly detailed and is in many ways even more intricate than the one worn by T'Challa. It's not often a villain looks cooler than the hero but it was here!

Killmonger Unmasked

Ryan Coogler worked with Michael B. Jordan on Creed and the filmmaker clearly had him in mind for the role of Killmonger from the very start seeing as his likeness was being used in concept art like this.

Action Ready

This very cool shot of Killmonger gives is a good look at the leopard spots beneath his suit, a nod to his comic book counterpart. These can be seen in the movie itself but you have to look closely!

The Villain Stands Tall

This alternate take on Killmonger's suit brings those spots to the forefront of the costume and makes them a lot more noticeable, while the mask features a lot more gold. That makes the villain look quite a bit more regal but could have potentially made him look too different to T'Challa.

Ready For Battle

These are all very similar but look closely and you'll notice that each is coloured slightly differently. The mask also varies, with the teeth a lot less pronounced in some versions here than others.

Scarification

To mark his kills, Killmonger has scarred his body from head to toe. It's quite appropriate then that his suit features a similar type of scarring and he clearly played around with Shuri's design to personalise it for himself. Will that be one of Black Panther's deleted scenes? Probably not to be honest!

A Closer Look At The Final Design

As you can probably tell, this is pretty much how Killmonger ended up looking on screen and it's fair to say that it's a look which works perfectly. The teeth, in particular, really help make him look fierce. As for those claws, we get a much better idea here of the mechanics of how they work.

Looking Good In Gold

As we've already noted, the gold was a perfect choice for Killmonger's suit in Black Panther and these pieces of artwork show us just how much work went into imagining how the lines on his suit would be lit up with kinetic energy (a headache for Marvel's team of VFX artists, that's for sure).

Alternate Mask Designs

These mask designs show us just how much work went into bringing Killmonger's suit to life and it's interesting to look here and see the different ways Marvel approached incorporating his fangs.

More Mask Designs

Once again, there a lot of gold in this version of Killmonger's mask and while it definitely works in some respects, it also looks a little too much because Marvel really did ultimately find the perfect balance.

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