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How Marvel Studios' visual development department is modeled after the Marvel Comics bullpen

Marvel Studios returns to the same key artists again and again, like Marvel Comics once did over different eras of the publisher's history

News by Tiffany Babb, Contributing writer

Published on Thu Sep 05 2024

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The movies and TV shows of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are based on the comics created the past 85 years at Marvel Comics, but as it turns out the behind-the-scenes of it all is also based on the House of Ideas.

During the 'Designing the MCU: Marvel Studios' Visual Development' panel recently at D23 Expo 2024, we learned from one of the key figures at Marvel Studios that the visual development department of the company is partnered after real-life and then proverbial Marvel bullpen.

"The visual development department at Marvel Studios is a unique group in the film industry, but it's following the model of essentially the original Marvel Comics bullpen with Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, John Buscema, those original founding fathers, amazing legends," says Marvel Studios director of visual development (and former comic artist) Andy Park. "Then in later years we had John Byrne, Neal Adams, and eventually when you get to the more modern era, you have people like Jim Lee and Todd McFarlane, Rob Liefeld. Even if they weren't always in-house, it was like 'These were the Marvel artists.'"

According to Park, Marvel Studios' visual development team originally began with Charlie Wen and Ryan Meinerding and was then expanded in the build-up to the first Avengers film.

"Back when they were about to start The Avengers, Kevin Feige as well as the leadership, they thought, 'Let's bring on a whole group of artists knowing that there's going to be a whole connected group of films leading up to the Avengers," says Park. "Myself as well as Rodney Fuentebella and Jackson Sze were some of the early members and eventually we got Jana Schimer and Ji Hye Lee."

Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills: