James Gunn made a big last-minute change to Mantis (Photos)

Marvel Studios MPower Documentaries revealed that James Gunn previously changed Mantis’ look Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

Long before Pom Klementieff portrayed the empath in the 2017 MCU sequel, Mantis made her Marvel Comics debut in 1973.

Like most comic book characters, their design has changed over the years; and apparently James Gunn had another look in mind when introducing the heroine to the MCU.

James Gunn’s original design for Mantis

Marvel’s MPower The Disney+ documentary featured never-before-seen footage of MCU characters, including screen test footage of Pom Klementieff as Mantis for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

This new footage revealed that Mantis was originally meant to have yellow skin in her MCU debut.

Not only is this look drastically different from how she now appears in the MCU, but yellow wasn’t the only color Marvel had in mind.

According to Andy Park, director of visual development at Marvel Studios, Mantis had almost green skin, just like she later did in her comic book series.

Park explained that in the end Gunn “decided to simplify” Appearance of Mantis:

“This close-up was what Mantis almost looked like… But like Gamora, James Gunn decided to simplify her look. While I would have loved to see both Gamora and Mantis that way, I think he made the right decision in the end.”

When asked on Twitter why Mantis isn’t green in the movies while she is in the comics, James Gunn explained (in a now-deleted tweet) that it is “Because I like her ORIGINAL look in the comics. Which is NOT green.”

Why Mantis shouldn’t be green on screen

Those familiar with Marvel Comics’ Guardians of the Galaxy know that Mantis isn’t the only character to look different on screen than in print.

As Andy Park said, however, Gunn did “Made the right decision” when it came to mantis.

For one, Gamora already has green skin. Having two green characters on screen could have been a challenge and was probably why yellow was considered for a while.

Second, as James Gunn noted, mantis weren’t always green.

In the comics, Mantis was half Vietnamese and half German. She was also born in Vietnam.

The fact that the comics later changed her skin to a shade of green no doubt detracted from that aspect of her character.

Though Pom Klementieff is Korean, not Vietnamese, and MCU’s Mantis is Ego’s daughter and wasn’t born in Vietnam, Gunn’s last-minute call to go with her natural skin tone was not only easier, but a fitting ode to Mantis ‘ History in more ways than one.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 can be streamed on Disney+; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters on Friday May 5th.