Gallery: 'Jupiter Ascending' Concept Art Teases Deeper Mythology

Jupiter Ascending, the latest sci-fi epic from The Wachowskis, hit theaters this weekend and didn't do too well. It grossed around $19 million over its opening weekend, which is about what Speed Racer did in 2008. Both film had big budgets and expectations but will ultimately be considered box office failures.

That's unfortunate because both movies are visual marvels. Whether you think Jupiter Ascending is brilliant or boring, there's little denying the costumes, props, sets and production design are pretty masterful. They're a beautiful amalgamation of ideas from sci-fi, fantasy, anime, manga, video games and more, filtered through the visionary eye of the Wachowskis.

Of course, it's not like Lana and Larry sit around designing all this stuff. They hire talented designers, concept artists and so many others to visualize their ideas, which they then approve or discard. Now, we've got our hands on a whole slew of Jupiter Ascending concept art that gives a great look at a bunch of the tech in the film, as well as some hints that Channing Tatum's backstory might have played a larger part in the movie. See the Jupiter Ascending concept art below.

This Jupiter Ascending concept art comes to us from Justin Goby Fields and IronKladStudios.com. There's a ton to talk about and dissect here, but we're just going to scratch the surface.

There is a whole lot of awesome in those images but I want to focus mainly on the winged creatures. They're referred to as "soldiers" in the titles and are almost certainly the same group that Caine Wise (Tatum) and Stinger Apini (Sean Bean) are a part of.

We don't learn a lot about these soldiers in the movie. We know they have wings, if they get in trouble they lose their wings, and they're pretty bad-ass. But the fact IronKlad did so many different concepts of this group of people/things suggests they were going to play a much larger role. Maybe they suited up to help in the battle against the Abrasax clan? Maybe there were flashbacks to Caine's dismissal from the army where we saw them at their peak.

They're also much more mechanical than we see in the movie, almost cyborg. Plus there definitely seems to be a female in there, which I don't believe is referenced in the film at all.

What else do you see in the Jupiter Ascending concept art? Do you think that a few of the human face look like The Rock and Tom Cruise?