But while this 13ft « robot-powered suit » is the work of Hollywood designer Vitaly Bulgarov, he says Method-2 is very real and being developed in a giant lab in Gunpo, South Korea.
Bulgarov has been involved in a number of blockbusters. His latest movie project, « Ghost in the Shell, » is a sci-fi based on a Japanese manga, starring Scarlett Johansen as a cyborg counter-terrorist field commander.
« It is fair to say that I draw knowledge and inspiration from each project I work on. And with some later movies it’s the other way around, » Bulgarov tells CNN.
Piloted robots have been a staple of Japanese animation (anime) and comics (manga), for decades in Japan and feature household names like « Gundam » and « Evangelion. »
The phenomenon then spread to popular culture abroad with cartoons like « Voltron » — originally from Japan but a hit in the U. S. — and movies such as 2013’s « Pacific Rim. »
« With robotic designs for the newer films I worked on, I was trying to bring more realism in terms of how a fictional design functions mechanically; whether it’s believable enough, how it’s structurally built, » he says.
Bulgarov’s other recent projects include designing the Lamborghini Transformer « Lockdown » and the robotic body suit for the latest « Robocop » reboot.
However, unlike these fictional enterprises, Method-2 has some very real aspirations.
Built by South Korean company Hankook Mirae Technology , which translates to Korea Future Technology in English, the company says its goal with the Method-2 prototype is to develop technology that can be put to use in a variety of real-world scenarios.
