Captain Marvel Concept Art Shows Off a Very Different Look for Guardians of the Galaxy Villain

Ronan (Lee Pace) made his live-action debut as a Kree radical during the events of Guardians of the Galaxy. Before too long, the character was disintegrated by the Power Stone, only to be brought back in Captain Marvel thanks to the magic of non-linear storytelling. Set nearly 20 years before his descent into radicalism, the Brie Larson-starring prequel saw Pace reprise his role as the Kree Accuser and he almost got a killer new costume to boot. Concept artist Ian Joyner recently shared a piece of Ronan concept art, showing the baddie with a vastly different costume than what appeared in the final cut of Captain Marvel.

Though he still has the comics-accurate cowl, it's much more updated, featuring a few different textures and styling patterns. It also has some raised accents throughout, something missing from the suits he wore in both Captain Marvel and Guardians of the Galaxy.

View this post on Instagram

An unused design option for #Ronan in #captainmarvel played by the awesome Lee Pace! An amazing project with an amazing team, as always I am very lucky and humbled to be a small part of it! #costumedesign #marvel #mcu #marvelcosmic #comicbookmovies #marvelstudios

A post shared by Ian Joyner (@ianjoynerart) on Nov 6, 2019 at 7:32am PST

While most might think Ronan is dead in the current timeline, we technically didn't see him die. With the continual changing of the powers behind the Infinity Stones, it's completely possible he was transported somewhere else, much like Red Skull during Captain America: The First Avenger. The character ended up only getting a few scenes in Captain Marvel, mainly to keep fans on the edge of their seats regarding the true villainous identities of the Kree.

"Yeah, I think it was more effective to hold on because it was giving it away too soon that the Kree were the bad guys because everyone associates them with Guardians of the Galaxy and it really just gave away too much too soon," Captain Marvel director Ryan Fleck said on the movie's commentary track.

Both films in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise are now streaming on Disney+. Other upcoming Marvel Studios movies include The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, and Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021. Blade and Ant-Man 3 have yet to set release dates.

What other cosmic characters would you like to see pop up in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 or another cosmic MCU flick? Share your thoughts in the comments or by hitting me up on Twitter at @AdamBarnhardt!