Our first task is to re-design the comic book character Blue beetle, alongside his vehicle for a live-action film. Since I have a soft spot for DC comics I already have an opinion on the Blue Beetle and how he should look based on his current official design. One thing in particular that bothers me is that his outfit spreads out from the scarab on his back like plates of armour:
So my driving idea is of an alien equivalent of advanced nano-technology - tiny beetle-like durable robots that can form bonds with each other and therefore can create a suit or machines and weaponry with different functions. And so I started off with a warm-up showing that transformation, of the beetle taking over without warning. I 'cast' Tyler Posey in the role of Blue Beetle, since the film character arts always seem to have in mind the actor that would play the role.
And here i started sketching out various random ideas, trying to incorporate Egyptian and scarab elements, including silver-age jet pack and medieval knight reinterpretation (which would be really really fun to draw)!
Afterall the alien technology takes control over the body of Jaime Rayes without warning, it is a creepy voice inside his head. So maybe before learning how to control the scarab, the look is more alien, and definitely more intimidating - with exoskeletons, blasters, tentacles - you name it! And after he learns to control his powers he controls his look as well. Since Jaime is a teenage boy - he gives himself a more classic superhero look.
Here I investigate a less mechanical and more Egyptian look:
Thinking about how the nanotechnology suit might work, I experimented with a more form-fitting wire-y look. The silver-age blue beetle had a weapon of light, so I incorporated the idea of light travelling through the power suit, suggesting it is 'alive' and changing. There is a stylized BB logo on the chest and something reminding scarab tentacles on the shins and forearms of the 3rd design. But there are no Egyptian references.
After coming up with a costume design I am happy with I start thinking about how that would address the flying vehicle aspect of the brief and how maybe the machine would be a part of the suit and even 'grow' out of it.
Then I go back to the 'cinematic' picture:
Exploration of the face of Blue Beetle:
( References: )
