Concept artist Victor J. Martinez has shared a series of early designs created for James Gunn’s 2025 “Superman” film, offering a behind-the-scenes look at one of the movie’s most controversial moments.
The artwork depicts a hologram of Kryptonian parents Jor-El and Lara, cradling the infant Kal-El as they prepare to send him to Earth. Martinez’s original vision placed the holographic projection inside the crystalline walls of the Fortress of Solitude itself — the couple’s likenesses shimmering and refracted through the towering ice-like structures of the Fortress.
Across five iterations, the designs evolved considerably. Earlier versions featured a wider, more fragmented composition with multiple reflections suggesting the projection scattering through the crystals, while later versions refined the image into a more intimate, luminous portrait of the two figures together.
Martinez shared the work on his Instagram (@victorjmartinez), noting it represented the early exploratory phase of the design process.
