{"id":584297,"date":"2026-04-05T18:21:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T18:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/584297\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T18:21:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T18:21:08","slug":"project-hail-mary-artists-reveal-early-rocky-concepts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/584297\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Project Hail Mary’ Artists Reveal Early Rocky Concepts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether you knew it from the trailers or having read the book,\u00a0Project Hail Mary<\/a>\u00a0also stars an alien rock named Rocky<\/a>. Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller have previously spoken about making him using practical puppets, and now concept art shows what else he could\u2019ve looked like in the film.<\/p>\n

On BlueSky, artist Kris Anka<\/a>, who\u2019s previously done work for the Spider-Verse\u00a0movies (and drawn hot DC and Marvel characters<\/a>) showed off some early Rocky designs he made in 2023. According to him, the art team had to \u201cfind interesting ways to play with asymmetry, silhouette, and texture.\u201d While following that directive, Anka also looked at different ways to establish \u201cdepict culture,\u201d hence having design 2C having barnacles for decoration and to denote his rank.<\/p>\n

In each design, Anka leans into the idea of Rocky having an arachnid-like body, particularly in designs 1E, 1G, and 1K. While most designs fit close to author Andy Weir\u2019s description of Rocky as \u201csmaller than a human, about the size of a Labrador,\u201d it\u2019s 2A, 1E, 1F, and 1I that keep his skin, said to be \u201cweird, brownish-black rock.\u201d The second round of designs feature notes that try to explain or make sense of his physiology: 2E gives him a crystal-shaped body and more defined mouth, and that and 2D give him patterned growths over what\u2019s otherwise a conventional alien body.<\/p>\n

After the Rocky puppet was made, Anka returned to help figure out Rocky\u2019s emotions<\/a>. There, he explored \u201cdifferent ways to use body acting, making sounds, [and] moving rocks around to evoke feelings.\u201d Some of his work made it to screen, and he also helped figure out how Rocky\u2019s fingers work.<\/p>\n

Anka wasn\u2019t the only artist to show off Rocky designs. Artist Jes\u00fas Alonso Iglesias<\/a> went for a design with a rounder \u201chead\u201d full of holes and long legs not unlike Anka\u2019s 2E and 2D. Iglesias\u2019 art shows us his Rocky would\u2019ve used his hands similar to humans (to the point of doing a Rubik\u2019s Cube) and sleep in ways that made him look alien. Designing Rocky was \u201cone of the most difficult [challenges] I\u2019ve worked on so far,\u201d but one that taught him about character design.<\/p>\n

The Rocky designs Anka and Iglesias released make us think about what\u00a0Project Hail Mary\u00a0would\u2019ve looked like if the team went in a different direction for its co-lead\u2026and we\u2019d also like for the film\u2019s art book to drop so we can see what else the film could\u2019ve looked like. Hopefully such a book is coming in time for the movie\u2019s physical release, or even the holiday season.<\/p>\n

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n