SCPS Brings Marvel’s Eternals to Life with Lexus Vehicle Wraps
As the newest Marvel movie, “Eternals,” hits the big screens, Lexus collaborated with the long-running superhero franchise to create custom vehicle wraps that celebrate all 10 of the main characters in the film. The project was tackled by SCPS, a studio well-known in Hollywood for it’s work on movies, commercials, events, and unique branding and marketing displays.
“Put James Bond’s Q inside Bruce Wayne’s Batcave, and you’ve got our world renowned, Los Angeles-based studio,” says Craig Currie, founder of SCPS. “Staying true to our Hollywood roots, we bend creative technology and custom fabrication to our will, never losing our focus to produce exceptional work in timely and cost-effective ways.”
Not the First Spin Around the Track
The Eternals wraps aren’t the first project SCPS has done with Lexus — the companies began working together five years ago, on the Lexus “LIT” IS vehicle, where SCPS completely covered the IS model with 41,999 LEDs programmed to display any video or pattern the company desired. Since then, notes Currie, the two have collaborated on several other projects, such as the Lexus/Twitch Gamers IS concept, and the Lexus Wax IS car, as well as the Lexus Visceral Reality immersive experience.
Credit: SCPS
Credit: SCPS
Credit: SCPS
Credit: SCPS
Credit: SCPS
Credit: SCPS
Credit: SCPS
Credit: SCPS
Credit: SCPS
Credit: SCPS
But the Eternals wraps went beyond a single vehicle — SCPS needed to create a concept that would look great across the entire lineup of models, all with different body styles and shapes, while still looking like a cohesive whole.
“During the initial design process, it was challenging to find the balance between bringing in the proper amount of character/costume detail without making it look like the car was wearing a stretched-out superhero costume,” says Currie. “We looked at the core elements of what defined that character and tried to integrate them into the car.”
Currie continues, “At a base level, each character has a unique color scheme, linework emblem/pattern, and abilities. By addressing each of those elements per car we could create something that gave a unique look. We then had certain unifying elements, so they looked like a set. Almost every car started out with a galactic space background, and used elements of cosmic smoke/clouds, the gold lines and lighting also helped to give the overall 10 cars a cohesive element.”
That said, even with all the experience SCPS brings to the table, the project wasn’t without its challenges. The biggest, notes Currie, was in taking the original concepts and translating them to the three-dimensional cars. “It’s quite easy to ideate from one view but when you start to consider where graphic elements land when they curve around the car’s body, things can get tricky.”
The shop also had to be very deliberate with color, since each hero has a very specific shade that needed to match up, not only to each other but to the official colors for the characters. Originally, says Currie, the shop started out printing small sample sections to test, but quickly found that it wasn’t enough to get a true picture of how the graphics would look on the final project.
“Then the process became printing out something like the whole side of the car at a smaller scale so we could see the design as a whole in print format, and make sure we weren’t losing any color detail,” Currie says. “Lastly, making sure our wrap team understood where we were trying to get certain design features to land on the car allowed us to get closer to matching our initial concept imagery.”
The end result speaks for itself, with a striking series of cars that look great together, but each also stands out on its own. The lineup of custom-wrapped “Eternals” vehicles includes:
- Ajak, played by Salma Hayek — Lexus GX.
- Druig, played by Barry Keoghan — Lexus GX.
- Gilgamesh, played by Don Lee — Lexus LX.
- Ikaris, played by Richard Madden — Lexus LS.
- Kingo, played by Kumail Nanjiani — Lexus IS.
- Makkari, played by Lauren Ridloff — Lexus RC F Track Edition.
- Phastos, played by Brian Tyree Henry — Lexus LX.
- Sersi, played by Gemma Chan — Lexus RC F.
- Sprite, played by Lia McHugh — Lexus NX.
- Thena, played by Angelina Jolie — Lexus LC 500.
“There is so much that we absolutely love about this latest endeavor for Lexus,” Currie says. “Our team has no shortage of comic book fans and gear heads, so let’s just say we’re seriously having a ‘Crossover’ moment. What a thrill to see our work showcase both of our esteemed clients — Lexus and Marvel — joined together in the most killer creative way. We can’t wait to see what Lexus comes up with next.”
“We’re excited to bring the ‘Eternals’ partnership to life through these custom-wrapped Lexus vehicles,” said Vinay Shahani, Lexus vice president of marketing, in a statement. “Just as each Eternals character has a distinct style and set of capabilities, so does each character-themed Lexus.”
- People:
- Craig Currie
- Vinay Shahani
Toni McQuilken is the senior editor for the printing and packaging group.
