Ryan Meinerding is no stranger to the MCU.
As Marvel’s Head of Visual Development, the prolific artist has had his hand in everything from Iron Man to last year’s cosmic threequel, Thor: Ragnarok.
But at San Diego Comic-Con 2017, Meinerding delivered something truly special: a massive, star-studded Avengers: Infinity War poster bursting with color and personality. At its core was Thanos and a souped-up Infinity Gauntlet, which draped Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (and the Black Order!) in beams of fluorescent, multi-colored starlight. Not only that, but it also offered up our first official peek at the blonde Black Widow, along with the Iron Spider and a bearded Captain America (Nomad?) leading the charge.
Fast forward to now, and with little over three months to go until release, Meinerding’s masterpiece has been given a live-action makeover, and the following piece was initially uncovered via Reddit (h/t ComicBook.com).
Upon closer inspection, you’ll notice that many of the MCU’s costumed crusaders have been painted in a slightly different light – Iron Man, for instance, looks visibly distressed in the poster above, while Meinerding’s SDCC piece featured a resolute Tony Stark staring off into the distance.
The Black Order – namely Corvus Glaive, Ebony Maw, Proxima Midnight, and Cull Obsidian – have also been tweaked ever so slightly, as they prepare to lay siege to planet Earth in search of those all-powerful Infinity Stones. Vision appears to be an easy target, as he’s literally walking around with a great big yellow target on his head, and while some viewers feared the worst after Infinity War‘s record-breaking teaser, Paul Bettany’s android has since been confirmed for the currently untitled Avengers 4.
Closer to home, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will wage an Infinity War on May 4th. And if you’re curious, Ryan Meinerding’s personal Instagram feed is often a treasure trove of Marvel-related goodies, so be sure to check it out.
