Stan Lee, the comic world legend with whom anyone would want to get associated, recently collaborated with the Indian animation studio, Digitales Studios and illustrator Saumin Patel for his new animated series Stan Lee’s Cosmic Crusaders. Virtual reality company Legend VR has joined forces with Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment to create virtual reality episodes for this new adult animated series which is available on Hindsight VR application.
The series has been produced for The Hollywood Reporter and, Digitales Studios can’t stop being proud about it as they got the opportunity to work with not just Stan Lee but also the great illustrator behind Bhansali Films/Eros’ Blazing Bajirao animated webseries, Saumin Patel (Small Town Boys). Patel serves as the creative art director whereas Digitales Studios’ R.K. Chand serves as the studio producer for the motion comics and animation services for Cosmic Crusaders.
The adult animated series, co-produced with Genius Brands International and written by ‘Deadpool’ co-creator Fabian Nicieza based on a concept by Lee, marks the first show to debut on THR.com, with the premiere episode in virtual reality.
“I can’t wait for everyone to see what the wizards at Legend 3D have created for our new series Cosmic Crusaders!,” says Lee of the experience. “Turning me into virtual reality, wow, what will they think of next! This is truly a unique experience for both me and comic book fans, you won’t want to miss this!”
“It was an amazing opportunity for us and our clients were really happy with what the final piece turned out to be given the tight deadline and Cross Atlantic teams working together with Saumin Patel leading the team in Mumbai. Looking forward to more unique collaborations like this in the future,” comments Digitales Studios, director of business development, R.K. Chand.
Right from the world class art direction by Saumin Patel to the final motion comics and animation services carried out by Digitales Studios which was then incorporated by VP of production at Legend VR, Will Maurer and his team into a unique VR experience for the THR’s special salute ‘Stan Lee: 75 Years in the Business’ was executed right from India itself. Producer Dane Allan Smith oversaw the production from Los Angeles.
“Cosmic Crusaders needed an art style which is dynamic yet could emote the humour embedded in the series writing. We didn’t want to make it very dark by using hard black shadows with stark lighting. So we chose to play a bit with more dynamic angles and art style that was more closer to comic/anime art,” mentions Patel. “While planning for art we had to keep in mind the aspect of how it would be taken forward for animation. Our team was able to propose an art style that was more animation friendly and also slightly different than the conventional comics or animation art styles we get to see around. With crucial inputs from the client, art was improvised and it ended up in a stark and slightly darker art style finally which we were happy about.”
So far four episodes have been released on the application wherein one can observe Stan Lee sitting in his living room and marveling at his recent work.
