The character of Jack Russell (who is also Werewolf by Night) has seen a few iterations in comic books, but this is his first appearance in the MCU — and his first time being portrayed as Latino. Arden says that director Michael Giacchino wanted the character's makeup to be a nod to García Bernal's Mexican heritage.
"Michael really wanted something [inspired by] Day of the Dead but at the same time wanted to steer away from overcommercialized makeup that we would see around this time of the year on Instagram or something," Arden says.
To ensure the makeup would be authentic to Day of the Dead (or Día de los Muertos), the production hired Rosanna Esparza Ahrens, a designer who also worked on Disney's 2017 animated film "Coco." "She did a two-dimensional design, and then it was up to us to translate into what was going to work best for us in a three-dimensional realm."
The end result is a series of white dots and dashes on García Bernal's face, reminiscent of the skull face paint that's used in the celebration of the Mexican holiday. "There's kind of like a push and pull with the makeup and the lighting, which I kind of like because it kind of takes on its own role and evolves with him," Arden says. "We wanted it to look organic. I don't think that makeup is a part of Jack necessarily; I think it was something that he was wearing to show up to this to honor his ancestors to stand."
Arden created Jack's face markings and sunken shadows using Skin Illustrator Palette in Necromania ($100) and Ben Nye Media Pro Eye Definer in Black ($10).
