Marvel’s new superhero movie, The Black Panther, recently grossed $1.08 billion making it highest-grossing film of 2018 and the 21st highest-grossing film of all time.
The Black Panther is highly influenced by the African culture and has made a huge impact to the black community all over the world.
But did you know that a Filipino-American is one of the people behind the amazing success of this film?
Rodney Fuentebella works as a senior visual development illustrator at Marvel Studios and has created the concept art for Erik Killmonger, King T’Chaka, and Ulysses Klaue.
Born in the Philippines and raised in San Francisco, Fuentebella studied at Product Design at the Art Center College of Design, and Design at the University of California.
In an interview with Esquire, Rodney said that working on the concept art of the characters has been a thrill, and he has taken in consideration the African heritage and past experiences of the characters in the film.
Rodney also revealed that he found inspiration on Filipino tribal patterns in creating the costumes.
“So, I took the geometric motif I found in African Kente patterns and African Zulu baskets I found online, as well as those found in the Philippines. I loved the bold, geometric Yakan patterns I saw, as well the T’Boli ones and the T’nalak’s strong, contained shapes. The triangles and play of constantly changing colors I saw from the African Akan tribes to Ikat weaves and Gaddang textiles from Northern Luzon greatly influenced look of Killmonger and King T’Chaka,” he said.
Aside from the Black Panther, he has also made different concept illustrations for other Marvel superhero films like Captain America, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Iron Man 3, Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant Man, and Captain America: Civil War.
Aside from Marvel, he has also worked for other big-time clients such as Disney, WIRED Magazine, Powerhouse Productions, Santuary, Records Group, Atari, and Ubisoft, among others.
