Injustice 2 Concept Designs vs. Final Designs: Which Are Better?

ArtStation has been a treasure trove of Injustice 2 art and design, and we’ve been mining it lately for some post-launch goodies. Just the other day we stumbled upon some stunning renders of Black Manta used in the game, and those picture have given us new hope that Black Manta could make his way to the Injustice 2 roster as a DLC character.

Today we’re taking a look at a bunch of early character designs, and they’re (for the most part) stunning. It’s incredible to see these and compare them to the final in-game designs. Some of them are radically different than their in-game counterparts, and some of them ended up being really close to the final designs. We ended up having so much fun comparing the concept designs to the final versions, we thought we’d slap them side by side and share them with you all to get your opinions.

The debate has been started, and ongoing, since these pictures surfaced. Which designs are better: these early and ambitious character designs, or the final renderings and character models that made it into the game? Keep scrolling and take a look for yourself as we survey the most interesting designs we found and see which designs you like better. We’ll conclude with a poll at the bottom where you can weigh in which designs reign supreme. Let’s get started!

Captain Cold

Neither Captain Cold design is bad; in fact, the in-game Captain Cold model is one of our favorite designs in the game. His end-game gear looks incredible and his glowing canisters are the neatest dang accessories. 

The concept art is still fantastic, though a little less customizable. It doesn’t look like it was designed with gear unlocks in mind. There aren’t as many gadgets, and he doesn’t really have a helmet as much as a hood. The mask could have seen some cool variations, though, and he has a real Han Solo vibe going on with that vest and gun holster. 

Supergirl

 

If you’re just looking at the suit and the gear, there isn’t a huge difference here. There is one huge difference in the suit, and that’s the pauldrons. On the left we see those solid gold shoulders are raised straight and high, ascending into the air. Kara herself has a very regal and “put-together” look about her.

Kara’s final design on the right comes off as much younger and more vulnerable. She doesn’t look quite as confident or royal, which is totally appropriate given her temperament in the Injustice 2 story campaign. Supergirl spends the entire campaign trying to hold together a world and family that are both crumbling simultaneously.

 

Starfire

 

Starfire’s concept art turned out to be really close to her final in-game design. There are minor differences in her costume which should be *cough* readily apparent, but there’s one other huge difference here as well. That. Hair. Length.

Starfire’s initial design sports an obscenely long, fiery mane. The in-game Starfire still has really long hair with lighted tips, but we’re almost wishing that the hair from the concept art would have carried over to her final design. I guarantee you that hair would have been used as a weapon or utilized in some creative way for her Super move.

 

Gorilla Grodd

Holy crap, that concept art is all over the place. It doesn’t look bad, but there’s definitely a lot going on. We’re thinking that when this was first illustrated, the artist was informed that Grodd would become an accomplice to Brainiac in the Injustice 2 campaign. They took that concept and ran with it.

The final design for Grodd is much more organic and resembles the Grodd we see in most DC Comics more closely. The final design emphasizes Grodd’s authority as a leader of The Society more than his subordination to Brainiac. He comes across as kingly, which is fitting.

Poison Ivy

We’re really torn on this one. We love this particular design for Poison Ivy on the left. It’s a little more whimsical, and a little more exotic. When we heard that Poison Ivy would be coming to Injustice 2 we wondered how she could possibly get any kind of armor or gear that makes sense. The team at NetherRealm did a great job, but we feel like the gear could have been even crazier with Ivy’s original design.

Still, while Ivy plays a fairly minor role in the Injustice 2 campaign, it could be that a more human appearance gets us to empathize more closely with her as a character.

Green Arrow

 

This is another design which completely tears office opinion down the middle. The concept art on the left is obviously inspired by the game’s newly-found focus on gear and armor. It’s as though the Ed Boon said, “go crazy and draw me your vision of Green Arrow completely decked out in head to toe with gear.” And they certainly did that.

Green Arrow’s final design is much more tame, and we still love it very much. A lot of his gear comes across as theatrical, and not necessarily badass, but he still looks great and is one of the funniest characters in the game. His final design matches his personality more closely than does the robot archer we see on the left, but dang that concept art looks amazing.

 

Black Canary

 

Once again we’re loathe to choose between one design or the other, because both of them look fantastic. Can we have this character design as a kind of premium skin, please? The concept design definitely strikes us with more of a “superhero” vibe, and seems more unique than the final design (boob window excepted).

Canary’s final design, however, is fantastic and much like Ollie, her in-game design compliments her personality in a really nice way. She also looks more human in a way; she has a little more personality. The original design, while more “superhero,” could also be seen as too stereotypical.

 

Firestorm

 

We’re not saying that we don’t think Firestorm looks cool, but we are saying that there are things about both designs here that we don’t like. Take the design on the left, for example. The full helmet looks really nice, especially with the fire bursting from the top, but almost everything else about that suit looks like like it came out of a made-for-TV move. The ketchup and mustard color palette especially is awful.

Firestorm’s final design is less offensive, but we wish they would have kept the full helmet. He looks like he’s wearing wrestler’s headgear and it’s kind of goofy.

 

 

Wonder Woman

Alright, this one is no contest in our opinion. We love the original concept art for Wonder Woman because it takes her in a new direction. It’s not completely novel for fans who have seen multiple iteration of Wonder Woman throughout countless DC Comics, but it would have been a bold step forward for her as far as Injustice is concerned. The Wonder Woman on the left looks like a ranger queen; a bounty huntress.

Wonder Woman’s final in-game design is much truer to the classic design we know and love, and she looks fantastic, but we’d really love to see that concept art come through as a skin some day.

Harley Quinn

We’re not sure if any of the concept-to-final designs are as dramatically different as Harley Quinn’s. When we initially scrolled through the character designs we had to do a double take to confirm that this is indeed Harley Quinn, since she’s missing so many of her typical telltale aesthetic characteristics. And what’s with the chains? Is she freshly escaped from Arkham Asylum, or freshly captured to join the ranks of the Suicide Squad? 

On the other hand, Harley’s final in-game design lends itself to some of the coolest gear in the game, and her facial animations are by far the best in the game. She looks killer.

Robot Archer or Robin Hood?

Alright it’s time of an Ollie showdown. Which Green Arrow is cooler? Concept design robot archer, or classic Robin Hood style Green Arrow? Vote below: