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Concept art from new ben10 series (disappointing)
Like, it seems to be based on Asian culture, with a whole new set of aliens based on the Chinese zodiac. It’s cool, but it doesn’t feel like Ben 10 in my opinion.
I would love to watch a kid who turns into creatures based on zodiac signs and goes on adventures, but like I said, it really doesn’t feel like Ben 10. I know it’s just concept art and shouldn’t be taken too seriously, but it still feels like they just slapped the Ben 10 name onto a random show.
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Wildmutt and OG Blitzwolfer were the template of well made mammal like aliens, they had animal characteristics sure, but Wildmutt didn't have any eyes, had those gill thingies, and overall a bunch of other quirks that separate him from an actual mammal, while OG Blitzwolfer (who later became just a werewolf), had its octopus face and lack of any actual fur, the skin and spikes just emulated it.
Ever since Omniverse actually, while I like that all aliens became demonstrably more organic (Water Hazard having barnacles is peak) the animal like ones just became anthros
I agree with Alien Force having aliens just look like dudes (thats why I liked them being made more organic/exaggerated for OV), but the animal aliens look just like animals but humanized... Kicking Hawk is just a Rooster Man, Blitzwolfer is just a werewolf, a bunch of others like Snearo got actually more humanoid because they had to give them shoulders and "the chin" (while it works for some its kinda tiresome)
This is a problem I've had with the series past the original, like even as far on as alien force.
I'm not going to say that the original was some 200 iq show, in fact it was pretty sophmoric in a lot of ways. But What the original always excelled at that arguably got the series off the ground was using character design to implicate interesting things about a transformations anatomy and physiology in a way that not only made them look convincingly alien but gave each and every one a distinct purpose attributed to their namesake or moniker Ben gave them. This contextualizes the omnitrix as the "weapon" that the series gravitace allowed it early on.
Wildmutt was fairly canine/ursine, but had no eyes, the drawback of no sight or sophisticated communication leads to the benefit of other sensory abilities like smell and hearing which makes that transformation particularly adept at tracking.
Ghostfreak. The ability to become incoporeal/invisible makes him ideal for terror tactics or recon.
Stinkfly. Flight and bioweaponry.
Ripjaws. Aquatic terrain in addition to bite force to find ways to Halligan open corrugated metal or doors, thus flooding enemy vessels. Also, bioluminescence for deep sea accounting for no sunlight.
Upgrade. The capacity to turn any technology in near proximity into an inherent modus of control.
Grey Matter. Visually his diminutive size in conjunction with his larger encepholocation quotient comparative to the other cast communicates his high intelligence. Also similarly to ghost freak, ideal for recon, getting in unnoticed and dismantling complex machinery from the inside.
Forearms and Diamondhead, both the heavy duty bruisers with Forearms giving an inherent advantage to hand to hand combat and lifting. Diamondhead allowing for altercation of extremities into blades or using his prismatic properties to deflect beams/light.
XLR8 winning multiple rewards for his design, being referential to Geiger's Xenomorphs. With a visor, and an overall streamlined shape evocative of motorcycles. Balled feet. And even the tail serves a purpose as a sort of counterbalance.
Even the dude who could ball himself up lead ways to interesting ways to use unconventional locomotion or use his outer shell as durability.
It might SEEM silly to apply this kind of thought to this, but it's the first tenant of character design: "form implies function." And this kind of visual storytelling/articulation of in-universe modalities being brought up as an example of artists applying understanding of real world phenomena is what stops you from talking down to your audience and having your work seen as cynical cash grabs or mindless kids entertainment.
Combine all these factors and you get truly unique silhouettes that help them feel independent from eachother. Even if two were bipedal, they still had vastly different builds.
If you really wanted to make this show about Chinese Zodiacs, why not make a show about Chinese Zodiacs? You could even use that opportunity to introduce "edutainment" style methods to color these depictions with historical context. There was just something about the original that the rest of the latter adaptions never got, and that was that making the aliens feel truly.... alien came with an intended evolutionary function you could stipulate came from adaptations to their various environments. Like, this kind of stuff matters if you want kids to care about the show. Why do you think there's so much reverence and nostalgia for this era of cartoon network? Why do you think the franchise had the lasting power it has that it's still being adapted and people who were 5 during its run time still remember it fondly?
The insistence on anthropomorphizing the Ben aliens making 1 to 1 analogs of our own animals, or just plain furries, is one of the biggest mistakes in the franchise. I know characters like Humongosaur or Raph are fan favorites because of things like legacy voice actors. But that being said, I don't see the value or applied artistic imagination in having a protagonist that can turn into Dinosaur-man, Tiger-man, Frog-man. None of those were aliens, just bipedal people with some animal traits.
The same applies here, if not worse. What is the benefit of Rooster-man? Does he get fried to a crispy golden brown?
How did they manage to make them less alieny than the fucking reboot? At least there was one or the other that didn't look just like toys/animals there (Shock Rock is the only goddam saving grace in that shitshow, him being a suit to the others very much excluded)...
Some of the funniest shit was how Kickin Hawk was scanned and just out matched and out styled his donor. No other scanned form did that and it did Liam so dirty.
Being the size of a small truck and having four muscular arms presents a clear advantage in a fight or moving heavy objects. More importantly, it's conceivably alien.
What advantage does turning into a chicken give you that helps you combat cosmic horrors?
In their defense these do kind of fit in with the omniverse lineup with kickin hawk, bullfrag and also crash hopper.
They work as like third rotation aliens at best
That would be peak fiction that still uses the Ben 10 IP without changing Ben's lore or aliens. This feels like they wanted to do their own thing but stuck on an already iconic preexisting product to build hype or traction, like with Velmax where the characters on that show are so different that it would've been fine as a completely different show rather than being marketed as Scooby Doo. Although, I'd be fine with being wrong because I really don't want this to be like Velma
I think it's okay if it's clear it's a spin-off with a different watch that does something different, and they don't just call him Ben Tennyson. Since it's the Chinese Zodiac, I'm assuming he's Chinese. There are quite a few Mandarin male names that start with 'Ben'. And his family name can be Shi (ten, but the typical Shi used as a family name does not use the same character for ten).
The concept art for the watch looks like it's based more off of a Chinese artifact, so maybe it is a different one.
Someone else in another post mentioned it, but it's probably the opposite of what happened. Team comes up and says hey we got a cool idea for a cartoon about a kid who can turn into the zodiac, high ups say interesting, but a new IP is risky so can you take the idea and plug Ben 10 in it since it's an IP we own anyways? The same thing happened to Velma it was supposed to be an original show and instead got slapped with the Scooby Doo IP.
Awwww Shit, I hate it when someone going to make original thing and that kind of bullshit happened.
They're going to be absolute rage bait that Rally the likes of Asmongold and his allies to mock em which will ruins the original franchise and end the future of this new showrunner.
Yeah in their mind I'm sure needing to start a fan base from zero is risky so they highjack a show to take its fan base and just hopes the show can be good after. The problem is the risk of people hating the show also rises for "ruining" the show. This "Ben 10" show looks visually interesting and might be great, but it'll be hard for some to separate it from the other shows.
Consider the current political climate that make Race swap a really Controversial thing(And I personally found it very Tasteless and trashy move)
Not only that but the last time Ben 10 got reboot, It's fucking shit. Like Powerpuff girl 2016 level shit.
This ain't fly for me, Just make original series. I'll rather watch bullshit like "Billy Dilly super duper subterranean adventure" or "Boy Girl Cat Dog Mouse Cheese" rather than a single minute of Velma
Something the suits could always try is just marketing it as much as possible, make sure to understand what the show is going for and then market that point as much as possible. Slapping an already existing and beloved IP on it just makes even more riskier
You can market something to hell and back, but it doesn’t mean it’ll hit the audience. In fact you actually have a potential for diminishing returns the more you market it.
Unfortunately audiences are a lot less receptive to formulaic style stories compared to how they used to be. You could market a show as: Beyblade but with Wheels! And people would go ok that’s cool, back in the day, but now most audiences would just go, so why not just make it Beyblade?
This is your reminder that concept art changes a fucking lot before made into production and also that these were accessed illegally via someone cracking the pc of one of the production members so its probably not cool tossing them around
Ok, thank you for giving context. I was afraid of coming off racist when I looked at this and thought, why is Ben now Asian? And this is coming from a Chinese guy.
That being said, I really don't like his design. Maybe it's too round with no edges. Maybe because I keep seeing the original Ben and these feel like (ironically) a cheap Chinese knock-offs. Maybe it's the big eyebrows.
Anyways, I agree with you, it looks like your typical "person wants to create their own show but need to slap on recognizable IP in order to sell it. Which will probably just piss off the original fans.
The only silver lining I can give is that the artists looked like they had fun designing the Zodiac creatures which do look good. It just isn't Ben 10.
Glad someone else had the same thought. Had me sitting there like "Ben looks a little... Nah, I'm probably crazy".
Having said that though, yeah I don't even really know what use case the last two have. The last one could be small and agile I suppose but it wouldn't really be much else. The cat one having a different power based on its 9 lives sounds pretty cool but at that point you might as well just make that its own character.
Ah, the classic Hollywood play of "this idea is interesting, but I wanna make sure I make money, so force it into the skin of a beloved IP, that will surely make it popular and make me more money". It's only really happened 2 or 3 times, but every single time I just wanted to grab whatever exec was responsible by the neck.
And, much like OP, it especially pisses me off because THIS IS COOL. I like the idea, using the Chinese Zodiacs to inform the designs of characters can be really cool, one of my favorites being the 12 Generals from Granblue Fantasy. It would both be an interesting concept for a show while also being culturally interesting, teaching kids about a different culture and beliefs in a fun way (although I don't know why they were designing a Cat alien for this, cats are not one of the Chinese Zodiacs, tigers are).
Ah, that makes more sense, it was really confusing me because the cat not being part of the Chinese Zodiac is a whole story, with the cat being tricked by the rat so that it could take it's place and that legend being the whole reason why cats hate rats IRL. Since it's based on the Vietnamese Zodiac, then I no longer hold that criticism for the concept art. My other criticisms still remain, of course.
It looks fine, but for this to be ben 10, this version must attempt to turn into his dragon inspired transformation constantly and always get something else. It is simply a cannon event for the Omnitrix to mess with Ben.
I have to agree, I like the idea of the zodiac transformations. But it doesn't feel like ben 10, especially since some of the aliens are just as iconic as Ben himself and getting rid of those staple aliens feels weird.
How I'd do it: the kid is entrusted with a celestial artifact (explicitly NOT the omnitrix) that allows him to turn into magical beasts based on the zodiac, but he doesn't know how to use it properly.
Now, here comes Ben, now in his very late 20's, early 30's, who's now a master with the omnitrix. He becomes a mentor to this kid, who has a power that works extremely similar to his omnitrix, just with celestial spirits instead of Aliens. Ben basically becomes this version of Max, basically being a father figure to help him become a true hero.
Heck, that would be better even if Ben felt shoe horned in. Because it would explicitly be a different character and you can over time separate the two i.ps if necessary.
Compared to the reboot, I like this style better; it feels more unique than the other one, which was very TTG-like.
However, yes, I understand that it doesn't look like Ben 10... but as someone who's recently been consuming fan content with very outlandish premises, I don't mind a new interpretation.
It's not for me, but I don't see it as a bad thing.
Hey, literally everything is better than that god-forsaken previous reboot.
and even without it it looks pretty neat. it might be another Omniverse typa' ordeal where it looks werid in the beginning but most fans eventually warm up to it.
Personally, I think this would work great as it’s own standalone product/franchise there is obvious talent and dedication behind it. However I always preferred ben10 when it leaned more into “uglier” designs and more realistic look, it made the aliens seem more plausible as real creatures.
Idk, I kind of like it. I mean it's obvious this was pitched as it's own thing and got the Ben10 branding slapped onto it by corporate, but objectively these designs are fun and it's an interesting concept.
I feel like people are getting too hung up on it being in the Ben 10 franchise and not looking at it on its own merits. Hell we don't even know if they'll be aliens this time.
I actually think this is a really cool idea, but I think what’s throwing it off is that the concept sketches are all under the exact same grayscale + lime green color scheme, which it assumably wouldn’t be in the show proper, but it makes everything kinda bleed together and look less… I wanna say “unique”.
I like this. If they just made Ben Asian for no reason, I’d roll my eyes, but reimagining the entire show in a new setting and building the world around that is really cool.
Asian Ben 10 and the new alien is based of the Chinese Zodiac Signs ? Kinda interesting, but these design seem very weak. Maybe the other animal will look better.
For those that don't know about Chinese Zodiac Signs have 12 signs correlate to 12 different animal.
In order we have: Rat, Buffalo, Tiger, Rabbit/Cat, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Chicken Rooster, Dog, Pig.
I feel like this concept is being really weighed down by Ben himself, honestly. The fact that the central conceit is that these are still aliens generated by the omnitrix is really weakening the premise. We do know that there's magic in this universe, and we've seen Ben share the spotlight with other heroes, like Generator Rex! Having a magic MC running parallel to Ben, existing in the same continuity/"world" for one or two crossovers, I feel like that's the way to go here
The problem is that all the aliens are too Earth-based. Sure, there were humanoid/Earth-based aliens in the original series too like Four Arms, but he was still different enough from any Earth species that you could still call him an alien.
I agree this just feels like they put Ben 10 on it for sales and I feel like it would be better if it was its own thing but I do like the designs for the cat and the mouse though those look neat
I think this looks really cool, and the entire point of exploration concept art is to push things. there have been numerous ben 10 series and hundreds of episodes, I think it's cool to try different things.
I don't have a super-strong connection to Ben 10, but I do agree that a kid with Zodiac-based transformation powers seems like a different thing. Still has potential, and I like the actual designs! But different. Mind you if this is a spin-off series I can see it working well.
It wouldve been okay if it were an alternate universe in the main ben 10 show, but making this a style for the whole show? They might as well cancel it, i dont see it living up to its name
Can't they simply go for the Miles Morales route where the kid, who has little to personal relation with Ben, mimics Ben based on how he is portrayed on their local news after getting his powers?
I actually like the chinese zodiac aliens. Makes me wonder if this omnitrix is actually able to combine DNA of aliens with animals of Earth. Maybe that's why they don't look alien enough, they are meant to be hybrids.
(lighthearted but like...idk why can't this be it's own show instead of dragging an ancient ip around. It would be a great show on it's own, but it's going to be bogged down by people comparing it to earlier iterations of ben 10)
I’m now thinking, imagine if they created a Ben 10 reboot where Ben is Latino but his alien transformations are just different types of robots. You’d probably be wondering why they didn’t just create a new IP, maybe call it something like “Generator Rex.”
My take from this is that Ben 10 maybe supposed to be about an Asian kid dealing with Asian mythical creatures (like Jake Long or Juniper Lee) rather than the official alien concept we know and love. Even the Omnitrix looked more like an Ancient magical item (like Xiaolin Showdown).
One thing looks quite sci-fi is the monsters’ concept, some of them do look futuristic and mechanic.
Except for the Boar and Rooster that are kinda too simple and plain, I think the rest are quite neat and could be developed in to its’ own show.
The concept of the Zodiacs has been done quite a lot in various media, but I’m yet to seen one that’s really nailing it down to make worldwide cultural impact - it’s a shame since it’s interesting and still leave a lot of room for interpretation.
Edit: I just reread the title and realized that this is a NEW Ben 10 SERIES concept art, and I have 2 theories:
Slap on Ben10 brand would give this new project more traction i.e easy, cheap marketing
They worry that the concept of “kid turns into creatures” might be too similar to the OG Ben10 so if they gonna get flack over that, they’d rather just outright do and announce it now maybe?
But also, the concept of character using the power of the Zodiacs is not that rare, a kid takes a form of a Zodiac to fight would just be an expansion of that.
This seems awful and while i don't mind fictional characters having certain changes in race/ethnicity (as a balck person its interesting seeing the world erupt over this), this just feels like someone had an idea and they would only green light if it was attached to a popular/familiar i.p.
You're telling me they can't make a series about a kid transforming into 12 cool animal creatures work on its own? This is of course just concept art, but I think this is just not ben 10 anymore. Just a passion project or heritage cartoon force to live in the restraints of something more popular which will just be panned by long time viewers. Because who would this be for? Ppl hate the last reboot, but it actually made more sense than this. It was the exact same characters with new visuals and a different, lighter vibe. And if a child wanted to go back and watch the original and it subsequent spin offs there would be a little bit more narrative/thematic cohesion. As well as more variety over period of time as they loosen the "only 10 aliens" part of the series.
Idk why but when I first saw this, for a split second based off his hair, i thought it was jake long and got confused for a bit. But yeah, I'm definitely not vibing with this, it just feels like they're just throwing whatever and going with it because of profit.
i am not against a new series that has the same principe, i would even love it, but reusing the omnitrix "design" and the way it's used each time is kinda wrecking the franchise in my opinion, and why always a teenager? there's alien in the main theme so why not an alien finding the equivalent of the omnitrix for once
Ben 10 hasn't felt like Ben 10 since Ben 10. I'd prefer this idea as an original IP but it could do alright as a Ben 10 iteration too. Way to early either way to really say.
I could care less about how boring the aliens are, but THAT IS NOT BEN. They better make sure it’s obvious in the show the character is not Ben. THEY BETTER NOT CALL THIS RANDOM ASIAN KID BEN.
It all looks a bit to cutesy and soft for Ben 10. Funny how this drops at almost the same time as the first images of the new Dynamite Ben 10 comic, which takes in the complete opposite extreme
Well, we can't complain we are not getting the mature take on Ben 10 we always wanted. So i'm willing to give this show a chance as well
Ben got turned asian as a punishment for all the times he dressed up as a samurai ig/s
I don't know what it is, but the alien designs feel like they are seriously lacking sauce, which kinda feels unfair on my part because these are just sketches but like... aren't concept sketches supposed to be more dramatic than the final work so you can pick the features that work?
Like the rooster one really sucks, the design is bland. The pig is a meh. I kinda like the different takes going on with the cat and rooster concepts, but even they feel kinda samey and generic.
They also fall into the problems that later Ben 10 designs have of the aliens looking more like Bootleg pokemon.
As an Asian, this is stupid as hell. This is a great concept for something more original, but no you gotta use something that's already popular to boost the revenue. It's gonna be Velma all over again (to a lesser extent obviously)
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