The Avengers isn't just the culmination of five big superhero movies over a four-year period — it's also the culmination of years of design work. When Marvel started preparing to bring its marquee heroes together in one giant adventure, some of the industry's most talented designers had to spend years working on…

Iron Man 2 is a design marvel, from the realization of Tony Stark's suitcase armor to the high-powered, heavy-metal set pieces. We talked to production designer J. Michael Riva and conceptual illustrators Ryan Meinerding and Daren Dochterman about this film.