ANIMATION PRINCIPLES - EYE OF AGAMOTTO DOCUMENTATION

One of my two chosen props for the Morphing animation is the Eye of Agamotto from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This post is a documentation of what it is, it's various appearances and how I plan to use it in the animation.

THE EYE OF AGAMOTTO

The Eye of Agamotto first appeared in Strange Tales #115, in the possession of Doctor Strange.

(The Eye of Agamotto, explained in the early comics it appeared in - credit: Marvel Comics)

The Eye's powers revolve around the supernatural and magical side of the Marvel Universe, including being able to see through illusions & disguises, look through time, and locate beings by psychic means. It can create portals and suspend objects too, but it's most recognisable purpose is just as the clasp for Strange's Cloak of Levitation.

In 2017, Marvel introduced the human embodiment of Agamotto from 1,000,000 BC. He was part of the Stone Age Avengers, and was the Earth's first Sorcerer Supreme. He wears a pendant similar to the one Strange wears named after Agamotto.

(Agamotto from a variant cover of Marvel: Legacy #1 - credit: Marvel Comics)

In 2016, the Eye of Agamotto was introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Doctor Strange, directed by Scott Derrickson. In this continuity, the Eye itself was just a case for one of the six Infinity Stones spread throughout the MCU; this one being the Time Stone. Using the Eye of Agamotto allows the user to control time itself; make it start & stop, slow down, speed up, and create time loops on repeat infinitely.

(Doctor Strange using the Eye of Agamotto to create an infinite time loop; every time he dies, he restarts from the beginning of the loop - credit: Marvel Studios)

The Eye later reappeared in Thor: Ragnarok (albeit without being used) and Avengers: Infinity War, in which the Eye casing was destroyed and the Time Stone was stolen from it; both actions comitted by Thanos.

The Eye of Agamotto has only had two designs throughout media; the comic design and the movie design.

In the comics, the Eye is comprised of a disc, two hollow quarter spheres, multiple small beads around the edge of the disc and the eye inside. It's completely gold, and the actual eye changes colour.

(The comic look of the Eye of Agamotto - credit: Marvel Comics)

In the movies, it's squashed down from a circle to more of an oval, with spiked edges where two semi-circles meet. There's more depth to the casing, including a hollowed out circle holding the Time Stone, two quarter spheres covering the stone (similar to the comic design), and a cross hatch design overlaying the Stone resembling the Doctor Strange emblem. Instead of acting as a clasp for the Strange's Cloak, this Eye of Agamotto more resembles a necklace, with two prongs sticking out at the top. The Eye uses different shades of gold, bronze and silver for the casing, and the Time Stone inside is green.

(The Eye of Agamotto from 2016's Doctor Strange - credit: Marvel Studios)

For the animation, much like the Infinity Gauntlet (see this post), I'm going to use the MCU design. The two would fit together much better than if one design was from the comics and one from the movies. The two mediums, while trying to convey the same idea of the prop, have different visual languages that aren't too compatible next to each other.