Exclusive: 'The Amazing Spider-Man' Concept Artist Jerad S. Marantz On Working With The Studio Designing The Lizard And More

Spider-Man has been an enduring character since he first appeared back in 1963. After hundreds of comics, and several movies, he returned to the screen in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). Concept artist Jerad S Marantz (I Am Legend, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Green Lantern) has worked on some of the biggest films in the industry. 

I got a chance to have an exclusive interview with him about working on the film The Amazing Spider-Man. He talks about working with the studio, what it was like to help design the Spider-Man suit and why concept art often looks so different from the final design.



Q: What Work Did You Do On The Amazing Spider-Man?
I was on the show for a while. At the time, I was the lead artist at the Aaron Simms Company and I did a lot of concepts for the lizard and the new spidey suit.

Q: There's A Wide Range Of Designs For "The Lizard." Was There A Point Where The Studio Said It's Gone Too Far?
In all honesty, concept artists may start the design process with a version of the creature or character that they would love to see in the film, but we are really there to help realize what the director and studio wants. How that usually works is I’ll do a first pass and the client says, "Eh, more human. Less human. More based on this reptile. Not so much iguana." Till the process gets filtered down and that's how any concept design gig really works.

That's why, often times, you'll see concept art that does not exactly match what appears on-screen.  There are a lot of designers on a show like Spider-man that all contribute to the design process. The final product is often times pieced together from the best elements of many different concepts from different artists.

Q: Just Focusing On This One Illustration. This Lizard Has A Very Human Face. Who Did You Use As A Model?
That was an actor. There's a likeness in there for him. Oftentimes when you're doing concept art you have to design a character around an actor the studio really wants to cast. It happened on Green Lantern when I designed one of Phillip Seymore Hoffman for the character of Hector Hammond. Sometimes I feel as if a concept artist plays a small roll cast actors for these films.

Editor's Note: There was talk that Michael Fassbender was going to play a villain in Columbia's The Amazing Spider-Man, but he went with Fox's X-Men: First Class instead. No doubt the above concept art was designed with his face.

Q: The Spider Man Costume Is Very Different From The Traditional Design. Was That A Concern?
You know, its funny no one seems that upset about the suit now. When I originally did an interview with ComicBookMovie.com  the suit was already released and some people weren't very happy with it at the time.

You know I'm a comic book geek myself and some fans don't take into account how many Spider-Man suits there have actually been. There was even a Spider-Man suit created by Tony Stark and it was red and gold and was made out of Iron Man parts. There have been so many versions.

Costume designer Kym Barrett designed the suit for the film and did an amazing job. She would come by the office from time to time and give me notes. I really enjoyed working with her.

Q: What's It Like Seeing Your Design In The Final Film?
It still feels incredible. Its what I hope happens throughout the entire process.

See more of Jerad S. Marantz' portfolio at his blog jeradsmarantz.blogspot.com and you can see more of his work on upcoming films like G.I. Joe: Retaliation and the FX television show American Horror Story.

What do you think of Marantz' illustrations? Did you like his designs for the film?