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When you’re a Marvel artist producing mountains of concept art, unfinished dreams land in the scrapbook. The old adage, “Kill your darlings” is a bittersweet reality of the business.

This is something the Marvel Studios’ Head of Visual Development, Ryan Meinerding has to live with on a regular basis. At New York Comic Con 2024's spotlight panel on the concept artist, Meinerding talked about how his art and designs often end up unfinished as he moves onto the next project. “A lot of times I start something and then move onto something else, like big battle scenes,” he told his audience with no small sense of regret.

Alluding to the 2023 Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Meinerding fondly mentioned an unfinished piece of concept art of Tatiana Maslany as She-Hulk rollerblading on the Venice beach, holding up a Volkswagen bus filled with hippies to assist with a flat tire – all while looking on her phone.

The room laughed at the mention, seemingly eager at the idea of a comically cute image of the She-Hulk multitasking – and just as disappointed that it wasn’t available to them. For anyone willing to negotiate the virtual back issue bins, there's a chance to pick up the next best thing: this 1984 Marvel Press poster by comic book artist John Byrne, which demonstrates a similar casual humor to what Meinerding was describing:

Of course, if there's a lot of demand, why couldn't Meinerding go back and finish it now as a poster or art print in its own right...? Come on, Marvel – think of the merchandising opportunities! 

Keep up to date on Popverse's Marvel coverage, with these highlights:

• Marvel Studios has accidentally created a new Phase that predates Phases 1 - 6: the MCU Phase Zero
• Which Secret Wars comic the Russos are basing Avengers 6 off of
• Overgrown children of the atom: Marvel's X-Men can't evolve past their '90s commercial peak
• The biggest outstanding questions of the Marvel Studios' movies & TV shows
• Marvel's accidental closure on the Kang storyline
• Robert Downey Jr. is entering his villain era
• Donald Trump is the landlord for Marvel's House of Ideas
• For Marvel actors, the MCU also stands for the Marvel Commercials Universe
• The Fantastic 4: First Steps offers Marvel a visual makeover, courtesy of a classic movie designer
• Marvel Studios swapping out Doctor Doom for Kang offers the chance to jettison the Multiverse Saga
• What Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige is saying (and not saying) about the MCU X-Men franchise says a lot about the future of the Mutant Saga
• If Marvel is going to bring Loki back for Secret Wars, it's time to give him an upgrade