Go to Mars and Back With Epic 'John Carter of Mars' Art

UPDATE: The artist is Ryan Church!
Concept art for the film John Carter of Mars (2012) was released on "Hero Complex" and they're pretty sweet.

These are some low resolution images, but I'll keep my eyes open and update this post when I find some better quality ones. Directed by Andrew Stanton, the film is based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs’ science-fiction novels about an advanced race living on the planet Mars.


This one shows a towering city and magnificent bridges. The film is shot in Utah and so some of the rock formations look pretty similar to the Southwest. NASA also uses the Southwest to test the Mars lander because the environment is similar.


A Martian airship hovers over the dusty Martian landscape. Airships are vitally important to the wars between the races on the planet. No doubt this is just one of many designs.

UPDATE: The following concept art was designed for the 2005 John Carter film to be directed by Robert Rodriguez. It was done by the brilliant artist Rafael Kayanan. Whether the new film will follow these designs remains to be seen. Thanks for the update Bill!

This is concept art of the evil and brutal warlord Tars Tarkas. What's really cool about it is the feel of being cobbled together from previous battles using bones and left-over armor. Could be very similar to the Predator. Collider said it came from the Facebook page, but the link is dead and I can't find anymore.

The artists described it this way:

Here are a couple of my armor designs for Tars Tarkas for the 2005 version of the John Carter of Mars film. It incorporated makeshift protection from found objects and salvaged armor parts. I studied some of the Samurai and other tribal knot tying techniques and included them as a way to latch and bind various parts together with sinew, found textile or a kind of plant fiber.

Official Synopsis:

From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, WALL-E), JOHN CARTER OF MARS brings this captivating hero to the big screen in a stunning adventure epic set on the wounded planet of Mars, a world inhabited by warrior tribes and exotic desert beings. Based on the first of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ 'Barsoom Series,' the film chronicles the journey of Civil-War veteran John Carter (Taylor Kitch), who finds himself battling a new and mysterious war amidst a host of strange Martian inhabitants, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins).

I have my suspicions who the artists are, but I'll keep searching till I find out for sure. There are some amazing artists working on this film.

Production Design by Nathan Crowley.

Art Direction
Ryan Church
James Hambidge
Mark Harris
Phil Harvey
Joseph A. Hodges
Naaman Marshall
Shane Valentino
Dean Wolcott
Robert Woodruff
Scott Zuber

Character Designers
Scott Patton
Simon Webber

Concept Artists
Wayne D. Barlowe
Tim Browning
Seth Engstrom
David Krentz
Mishi McCaig
Ryan Meinerding
Maury Ruiz
Phil Saunders
Dan Walker
Ross Dearsley
Iain McCaig
Christian Huband
Vance Kovacs
Justin Sweet

US release date is March 9, 2012

How was your visit to Mars?

Via First Showing