Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1538080
6 8 P E R S P E C T I V E J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 2 5 "I'm sorry, James Gunn. When I told you we'd find a way to build actual translucent 40-foot crystals out of resin, I was wrong. We can't build the set we promised you." That imagined apology kept me awake for months. With filming on the new Superman just around the corner, the crew was still stuck in R&D limbo, no closer to solving what had seemed like a thrilling— but now increasingly daunting—creative ambition: building the new Fortress of Solitude using hundreds of towering, translucent crystals. The vision was clear. The execution, far less so. Let's rewind. When James first called to say he was sending over the script, my mind jumped immediately to the Fortress. Would it appear in this film? And if it did…would we reimagine it? Few film sets are as visually iconic; the idea of reinventing it sent a mix of excitement and panic through me. The art student in me was ecstatic, the Production Designer was equal parts inspired and terrified, and the Superman fan in me just hoped we could do it justice. In our first creative meeting, James mentioned that he'd always liked the original 1978 Fortress and that recreating it was perfectly fine by him. I also grew up captivated by John Barry's crystalline dreamworld—and I carry tremendous reverence for what that team accomplished. But I also saw an opportunity. The Art Department now has tools and technologies that weren't available fifty years ago. Advanced rigging systems, sophisticated resins, refined scenic techniques. I felt we could honor the spirit of the original while sculpting something more structurally ambitious and texturally rich—something that could feel both natural and alien, grounded in geology but soaring in concept. I proposed a design that would break out of the symmetrical, boxy confines of the original—replacing it with something more explosive and dynamic. A crystallized structure erupting from the tundra, like Superman himself, launching skyward. A. CRYSTAL FABRICATION. AT THE CRYSTAL WAREHOUSE. SET PHOTO. B. BETH MICKLE INSPECTING A CRYSTAL. SET PHOTO. C. ART DIRECTOR ALEX MCCARROLL WITH FIRST CRYSTALS. SET PHOTO. D. FORTRESS INTERIOR IN PROCESS. GIANT DOORS. PAINTED AS METAL WERE ON TRACKS AND ALSO RIGGED FROM ABOVE. THEY TILTED FORWARD AND OPENED PRACTICALLY. SET PHOTOS. E. FORTRESS INTERIOR IN PROCESS. THE SET FILLED A 40,000 SF STAGE AT TRILITH STUDIOS IN ATLANTA. F. FORTRESS INTERIOR IN PROCESS. SET PHOTO. B A C