LOS ANGELES - Imaginary Forces (https://imaginaryforces.com) created the new Marvel Studios logo that was reveal with the premiere ofThunderbolts. The logo pays homage to Marvel Studios’ comic book flip intro, though received an edgier tone.
Tosh Kodama served as creative director on the project, working with the Imaginary Forces team to build a bold approach to the logo animation.
“The latest Marvel Studios logo builds on the rich creative history between Imaginary Forces and Marvel Studios,” notes Kodama. “Our goal was to retain the iconic essence of the comic book flip while pushing it into new visual territory within the Thunderbolts canon.”
The sequence is roughly :30 in length, but features thousands of comic book images from the pages of “Thunderbolts,” projected onto a drifting 3D rendering of the Marvel wordmark. The camera pans in, around and through the passageways of each letter. The logo is never fully revealed and eventually dissolves into blackness — a foreshadowing of The Void, Sentry’s alter ego, and a key narrative element in the film.
“The sequence tells a story, albeit a subtle one, evoking the gritty, morally-complex world of the Thunderbolts," Kodama explains. "Aesthetically, it’s also a notable departure from the warm and vibrant hues of the previous logo animations, with the black slowly creeping in and overtaking everything, creating a sense of mystery and unease.”
To express The Void sonically, Imaginary Forces overlaid a haunting sound effect over Michael Giacchino’s "Marvel Studios Fanfare," reflecting the character’s hollow, engulfing nature.
“Fans get jazzed the minute they hear the fanfare and they know it well,” adds Kodama. “So, sonically augmenting it was a simple but highly-effective choice to subvert expectations and add intrigue.”
Imaginary Forces created its first Marvel logo animation for the 2002 release of Spider-Man. It featured a stop-motion sequence of comic book prints from the Marvel archive. Ten years later, they partnered with Marvel Studios, developing the next iteration - a stereoscopic 3D reimagining that premiered before 2012's Thor: The Dark World.
“Back in 2002, no one could have predicted Marvel would grow into the expansive Marvel Cinematic Universe we know today,” concludes Kodama. “We’ve been thrilled to collaborate with Marvel on the evolving logo animations over the years. Being part of the MCU’s next chapter is always an exciting and rewarding experience.”