Injustice 2 is a well-tuned fighter and absolutely packed with content, which is what you’d expect from a NetherRealm Studios title, but it’s also surprisingly pretty. NetherRealm haven’t always produced the most aesthetically-pleasing games, but Injustice 2 features some top-class facial animations, and some really striking character designs. Injustice 2 is the best DC Comics’ heroes and villains have ever looked in a video game, which is partly due to the fine work of concept artist Justin Murray.
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Murray is a video game industry vet, who’s done concept art for Ready at Dawn (God of War, The Order: 1886), and Mortal Kombat X and Injustice 2 for NetherRealm. He’s currently working for Super Evil Megacorp on the popular MOBA, Vainglory. You can check out Murray’s work at his Facebook page, or on Twitter – just be forewarned, some of the stuff he posts can get a little raunchy. Don’t get me wrong, it’s all worth checking out, but maybe don’t browse too deeply at work.
As mentioned, Murray worked on Injustice 2 way back in 2014 when the game first began production. Murray’s been posting some of his concept art, which provides a fascinating look at what some of favorite characters could have looked like. Scroll down to awesome art featuring Red Hood, Power Girl, and Reverse-Flash…
Red Hood
Damn, now that’s a cool image. This is about as badass as Red Hood has ever looked, and it seems like NetherRealm stuck closely to Murray’s original design. Comparing with the Red Hood debut trailer, the mask, jacket, and body armor all look very similar. The one major difference are those big, electrified gauntlet blades. Red Hood has those in the final game, but they’re much less pronounced. Maybe the bigger, badder gauntlets are a piece of equippable gear? Let’s hope!
Power Girl
Next up, we have Power Girl! A fantastic, vibrant design, and you can see some of elements made it into the Power Girl premier skin in Injustice 2. NetherRealm retained the plunging triangular “boob window” (sorry, that’s pretty much the official term for it), although the final version of Power Girl does get to wear pants. Her cape, boots, and gloves were also underwent some changes.
Reverse-Flash
Finally, we have a very different version of Reverse-Flash. In Injustice 2, we get a more traditional, palate-swapped version of the character, but Murray’s original art shows a darker more unique take. This is a great design, but I have a feeling NetherRealm went with the more traditional Reverse-Flash take, because it was easier to pull off. Perhaps Reverse-Flash was originally going to be a full-fledged fighter with more of his own look?
Hopefully Murray keeps posting stuff — I’d love to see more early takes on Injustice 2 characters. I’m sure his Harley Quinn is awesome!
Injustice 2 is available now on Xbox One and PS4. You can check WWG’s latest coverage of Injustice 2 here, and our extensive back catalog of stories, right here.
