Fabricating the Gods: Wendy Partridge talks about Thor: The Dark World

Comic book adaptations are nothing new for Wendy Partridge who was responsible for the costume designs for Hellboy (2004) before becoming involved with Thor: The Dark World (2013).  “I got a call from Marvel at the request of Patty Jenkins [Monster], who was at that time the director lined up, interviewed with her and was offered the job; even though she and Marvel parted ways later on, I remained on the project for the duration.”  Replacing Jenkins behind the camera was Alan Taylor who has helmed episodes of the HBO fantasy epic Game of Thrones.  “Alan was the one pushing to give Thor: The Dark World a sense of realism and history even though they are fictional characters; through his vision, the collaborative process derived the more authentic version attained in the sequel.”  Working within the confines of an established franchise was not artistically restrictive.  “There was a surprising amount of freedom as Marvel was trying to give it a new and grittier look than the original film.  It left the door open for a great deal of creativity.”

Costumes needed to appear weathered and naturalistic.  “This is actually a very difficult process when you’re working with custom moulded armour as 90% of the weathering and texture has to be sculpted into the armour moulds at the initial stage,” explains Partridge.   “Only about 10% of it is done through the painting process. So you had better know what you want and love it. Once it’s moulded that’s it!”  Celtic history proved to be invaluable when conducting the required visual research.  “I choose to go back to the earliest Celtic references available, which start approximately 600 B.C.  During those eras, the predominant artwork was called Le Tene and this artwork is completely based on circles and is compass based. It has a particularly beautiful aesthetic and that was what I used as the foundation for all the creativity in the Thor: The Dark World costumes. This artwork was abstracted and manipulated to create the Asgardian aesthetic and was used for almost all the detail work on the costumes.”

“The armour was more creatively designed than influenced by historical reference and that’s what gives it its fantasy feeling for the Asgardian nine realms,” remarks Wendy Partridge.  “The number one priority is to make the look fantastic and once the looks had been approved, then it was strictly creative engineering to give the actors their mobility and functionality.” The Light and Dark Elves were handled by the Make-up Department while the stone man existed solely as a CG character.  “Even though we did do a life-size mock-up of his costume for the actors to react against it was fundamentally done digitally.” The native of Britain had conversations with Charles Wood (Guardians of the Galaxy) who handled the production design for the project.  “There were many in depth discussions with Charles to assimilate sets and costumes to create an overall artistic painting of all the visuals presented.”

“There was anywhere from 6 to 30 costumes per principle cast member, depending on their actions,” states Partridge who had a budget of $10 million.  “Here are the inspirations for some of my favourites.”

Thor: “To depict strength and agility, I looked for the most subtle of colours and design lines to enhance his hero image.”

Jane Foster: “I particularly wanted her Asgardian clothing to be the antithesis of her Earthly clothing, which was very nerdy and scientific and it was nice to see her in some flowing gowns in colours particularly chosen to enhance her complexion.”

Loki:  “Again subtle shades and textures to exuded his mischievous and devious side.”

Dr. Erik Selvig:“Selvig, I loved Selvig. And I loved the quirky way we were able to expose his inner madness. Stellan [Skarsgård] was game for everything and anything.”

Heimdall: “To present the guardian of the realm with all the essence of strength and loyalty, fine details of Asgard where incorporated into his costume.”

Malekith: “Make-up Department except for his beautiful pony coat which was styled to be of another world.”

Algrim/Kurse:“Algrim’s costume was all a function or proportion once the design was approved, as he needed to feel really big. It was a great challenge to make him bigger than Adewale was.”

Darcy Lewis: “Really fun and quirky shopping, So much fun to bring out her funny side.”

Volstagg: “All the tones and lines where to enhance his big friendly bear sense as well to make him warm and loving even though he is a warrior.”

Fandral: “Fandral was our Dandy; it was great to pounce him up a bit and give him flare.”

Hogun: “It was great to be able to bring his ethnic Asgardian heritage in to the flavour or his clothes. It gave the show was additional depth and facets.”

Sif: “Sif was by far my favourite of all the costumes and I think one of the most successful superhero female costumes to be done in a long time. It made her look very strong and capable among a world of supersized men. And yet, gave her a level of femininity amidst all the mud and blood.”

Frigga: “It’s always a sheer pleasure to work with an actress that carries herself with such grace and Rene [Russo] was completely open and inspired to be wearing the semi-Asgardian armour/jewellery that was designed for the Asgardian women. Rene carried it off so successfully.  When she had her fight with Malekith, Rene wore it like she had been wearing it all her life.”

Odin: “It’s a challenge to bring stature and strength to such an amazing actor as Anthony Hopkins [Silence of the Lambs]. But I think this is something that we did successfully. We brought a regal presence to both his character and Asgard through his costumes.”

“Thor’s cape was a pretty big challenge,” reveals Wendy Partridge.  “I felt there needed to be a lot more fluidity and character to the cape than the first movie as there was so much more screen time and action in Thor 2 than Thor 1 [2011].  I went about trying to find a textile that would accomplish this. We finally had the material custom woven at a mill in Italy to specific specs and dyed to the deepest, richest red only fitting our leading man.”  A particular scene occurred unexpectedly for the costume designer.  “When Captain America appeared in the movie that was a surprise and not originally scripted.”  Partridge adds, “The whole project was thoroughly enjoyable and I hope I get to do another Marvel movie someday.”