By Sean K. Cureton With superhero films continuing to be the hottest commodity in the modern Hollywood landscape, the task of finding the very best talent within the industry of costume design has become more important than ever. Over the years, various studios that cater to delivering the very best character models and designs have sprung up – in order to fulfill the need of various production studios, currently at work at bringing the biggest superheroes and super-villains to thrilling, cinematic life. Of those costume design companies, Ironhead Studio is among the very best, and is headed by longtime industry artist Jose Fernandez, whose work on the Catwoman suit in the 1990s superhero film Batman Returns has since landed him positions as part of the crew behind such movies as the 2016 superhero tentpoles Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Captain America: Civil War. However, it was Fernandez’s recent attempt to bring the eponymous antagonist for X-Men: Apocalypse to life that has resulted in one of his most fruitful productions. In a recent interview with Tested that was conducted at Monsterpalooza 2016 (see above), Fernandez was quick to cite the fact that he was ultimately turned down for the role of creating the character design for Apocalypse in director Bryan Singer’s latest X-Men film. Though that didn’t stop the renowned costume designer from going ahead and developing his own original character model and design on his own (the results of which can be seen below). Owing obvious aesthetic influence and inspiration to the original character design featured in Marvel Comics, longtime fans of the Apocalypse character are sure to get a kick out of the work put into Fernandez’s alternative take on this famous X-Men super-villain. Even if the piece in question will never see an appearance in a feature film, the dedication and artistry that went into designing the piece should stand as more than enough reward for the work that went into creating it for the sake of its very existence. Whether or not the final design featured in X-Men: Apocalypse will ultimately prove up to snuff for the most die-hard fans of the original comic book character, Fernandez’s original design will still stand as the Apocalypse that might have been. There’s obviously a lot of competition within the costume design industry – and based on the Monsterpalooza 2016 exhibition from Fernandez and his Ironhead Studio, his work is still among the very best in the business.
