Avengers Villain Proxima Midnight Almost Had Much Different Look in Infinity War and Endgame

Over the past two years, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame gave audiences some truly unexpected storytelling in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The epic blockbusters brought many of the franchise's heroes to one place while introducing some unexpected antagonists and heroes along the way. Ryan Meinerding, who serves as Marvel Studios' Head of Visual Development, recently shared a look at early head designs for Proxima Midnight (Carrie Coon), a member of Thanos' villainous Black Order. The photos, which you can check out below, show a slightly more comic-accurate take on her character design, with reds and blacks thrown in.

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Proxima Midnight Head design! This was a big collaboration between a lot of talented artists. @jsmarantz had done the initial design, @wes_burt did a newer head design that was headed in a direction the producers and directors liked. Then I was sculpting along with @adamwross to get these images. Her face didn’t follow this direction in the film, but this is the final look we turned in for her.

A post shared by Ryan Meinerding (@ryan_meinerding_art) on Jan 3, 2020 at 10:52am PST

For some, Proxima Midnight and the Black Order are a much-debated part of Infinity War and Endgame, as the group had a relatively small significance within the world of the films. But according to the creative team, there were larger backstories and impactful moments involving the "Children of Thanos".

"There were earlier drafts of the script with the Black Order, in a more stylized draft where we did backstories for each of them," co-director Joe Russo said on the film's commentary track. "Ultimately the movie was getting too crowded, too hard to follow. In the books, there's a backstory between Proxima and Corvus, that they're married. Only hinted at in the slightest way here by the fact that they are paired up to retrieve a stone and the way that she responds when Corvus gets stabbed by Natasha."

What do you think of these early designs for the MCU's Proxima Midnight? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1st, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in Fall of 2020, The Eternals on November 6th, WandaVision in 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, Loki in Spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, Spider-Man 3 on July 16, 2021, What If…? in Summer 2021, Hawkeye in Fall 2021, Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021, and Black Panther 2 on May 6, 2022.