When Diana left Themyscira and accompanied Steve Trevor back to "man's world" in the Wonder Woman movie, she had one goal: find Ares and kill him so that World War I would end. Eventually the God of War revealed himself to the Amazon warrior, and for the most part his fully armored appearance was faithful to his comic book counterpart's look. But a new piece of concept art for Ares has found been shown online, and compared to the final product, this alternative version gives off much more of a badass vibe.
Concept artist Peter Mckinstry recent posted the above artwork on his Instagram page of what Ares almost ended up looking like in Wonder Woman. There's no doubt that the Ares we saw in action towards the end of the movie was a formidable opponent, but the version above does a better job of presenting him as a warrior, from the helmet fashioned out of a beast's skull to just wielding the traditional sword and shield. The glowing eyes also help make him more intimidating. When asked why Ares' appearance was revised after this illustration left the art department, Mckinstry responded:
Things change...in the vfx process of putting the fight sequence together, the director decided he should armour himself with the scrap metal around him
Although the Ares in the familiar form DC Comic fans know wasn't seen until Wonder Woman's climactic battle, the character himself was hiding in plain sight from the moment Diana and Steve Trevor met with the Supreme War Council. David Thewlis' Sir Patrick Morgan presented himself as someone who wanted an armistice to be signed with Germany so that the Great War would conclude, but after Diana killed Erich Ludendorff, "Morgan" revealed himself to be Ares, who had been manipulating the main players in this global conflict from behind the scenes. Once Diana refused his offer for an alliance and attacked him, that's when Ares gathered nearby metal to form his trademark armor. But there were a few times when we could still see his face, including that impressive mustache.
While Thewlis' Ares proved to be a skilled swordsman in Wonder Woman, for the most part he battled Diana using powers like Super strength, teleportation, telekinesis and electrokinesis, among others. Diana was eventually able to defeat him, but only after being inspired by Steve Trevor's sacrifice. Ares has been gone for a century by the time of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but if another Wonder Woman movie decides to resurrect him, maybe his look should change to something similar to this concept art.
Wonder Woman is still playing in theaters, and moviegoers will reunite with the present-day Diana when Justice League comes out on November 17. Wonder Woman 2 is also scheduled for release on December 13, 2019.
