Ben 10 (Reboot)/Early Development

Original Series

Alien Force

Ultimate Alien

Omniverse

Reboot

General	Episodes	Shorts	Early Dev	Continuity	Errors

Early Development applies to every decision, character, and alien that were made during the early stages of production of the Ben 10 reboot.

History

According to Rob Sorcher, Cartoon Network’s chief content officer, the driving spark behind the reboot was the demand from audiences around the world.

Production on the reboot began in 2015. Steven T. Seagle stated that they wanted to reinvent Ben 10 for a younger audience as they know creators have a tendency to always age stories up and not make them accessible for children. Man of Action sat down and looked at what Ben 10 is at it's heart and evaluated how to best represent it for children of today. Then they assembled a crew of younger storyboard artists to help craft the series. The change from 22 minute episodes to 11 minute episodes also meant they had to now write in a two-act structure instead of a three act structure which kept the crew on their toes.

Early Designs

The designs for aliens in this incarnation were all made bipedal, as apparently, monsters that look like superheroes sell toys better. Playmates Toys mostly had the final say on which aliens appeared in the show. Another decision they made was that characters such as Ben and Gwen would have big, shiny, shaded, reflective irises, unlike other human characters on the show.

Audition Sheets

As early as January 29th of 2016, photos of audition sheets featuring blurbs about certain characters and aliens to be featured in the reboot were leaked online. These audition sheets notably used more angular designs for the aliens, among other design changes.

Gwen

Gwen's design was very similar to her final one, although she appears taller.

Max

Max's design was fairly close to the final design, featuring all the new additions to the character such as his wristwatch and vest.

Overflow

Overflow's design was largely the same as his final design, although which parts of his body were red and gray shifted around. Strangley, his blurb states he is from the planet Orishan, which is Water Hazard's species. In the final show, he is instead a Cascan from Cascareau.

Heatblast

Heatblast was fairly close to his final design, although the rocks on his body were darker.

Diamondhead

Diamondhead appeared closer to his Classic counterpart in the Original Series, as his outfit was black-and-white instead of black-and-yellow.

Upgrade

Upgrade appeared virtually identical to the final design used. His purple color scheme was decided upon after trying out lots of combos.

Wildvine

Wildvine's design was largely the same as the final, although the vines that curled around his arms appeared to protrude more at his elbows.

XLR8

XLR8's design had a few minor differences compared to the final iteration. Namely, lines connected his eyes to the top of his "helmet", and his toes were blue instead of black.

Stinkfly

Stinkfly appeared very close to his final design. The main reasoning behind his drastic redesign was because kids thought his Classic counterpart's design was too scary.

Grey Matter

Grey Matter appeared almost identical to his final design, save for his feet, which are partially covered in the final design. He also had shine in his eyes.

Other Characters

Ben

Early initial character development sketches of Ben were done by Nikolas Ilić. These designs featured Ben wearing a shirt closer to his Classic counterpart's.

James Lien was also hired to do character concepts for Ben.

Nikolas Ilić's concepts

Nikolas Ilić's concepts

James Lien's concepts

Four Arms

Four Arms' early design was showcased in a promotional video, alongside Diamondhead's. It closely resembled his final design.

Press/Calendar Designs

In 2015, Cartoon Network produced a calendar featuring designs of Ben and his aliens, which appeared closer to their final designs. The largest difference is Ben's eyes, which are more rectangular in the final product. Additionally, press material used a slightly different design for Ben, with a more simplified Omnitrix, slightly darker skin, and straps on the cuffs of his pants.

Press kit design

Calender

Calender

Promo material

Promo material

Storyboard Tests

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding information.

Several artists were given storyboards tests during the hiring process of the reboot. They were given 48 hours to script and storyboard a fight between Ben and Zombozo in a warehouse.

Matthew Humphreys' Test

This story begins with Zombozo having tied up two people along with two of his henchmen. The two are suddenly attacked and contrained by Ben as Wildvine. Zombozo turns around, having expected him. He shoots clouds of gas from a gun, and Wildvine jumps down, clearing the smoke. One of the hostages' head falls off, revealing it to have been a dummy. He is then blindsided by Zombozo, who punches him across the room using his clown-themed mech suit. Wildvine times out, and Ben questions his plans, as he usually mind-controls people. Zombozo explains that he had gotten it at a Costco, and that it in reality was a delivery system for his new Boston scream pie cannon. Ben is enthralled at the thought of pie, until Zombozo fires on at him, which he narrowly dodges. Zombozo follows him throughout the warehouse, redubbing his weapon the "piezooka". After his henchman questions him, he shoots a pie in his face, which hypnotizes the goon. He asks what his other goon thinks, and Ben answers for him, saying he is a "creepy clown". Ben further points out how creepy he is to be stalking a kid in an abandoned warehouse, and that his weapon seems rather hammy. They continue to exchange ham-related quips, until Zombozo tries to shoot pies at him, only to find he ran out of ammo. Now transformed into Four Arms, Ben knocks him into a wall, right above one of his splattered pies. It falls onto his face, hypnotizing him and making him believe Four Arms is himself. He begs Four Arms to stay away, as he sees himself dressed in a fast-food employee outfit ask him if "[he] wants fries with that?". He screams a loud "No!", as the story comes to a close.

Leslie Park's Test

The story begins with Ben running through a warehouse, exhausted. He hears something, and finds Gwen and Max, both hypnotized. Gwen juggles on a unicycle, while Max droopily watches. Zombozo slides into frame, and hugs his victims, only to be off-put by Max drooling. The Omnitrix then times back in, and Ben transforms into Cannonbolt. He and Zombozo banter before he throws out a punch. Before it can land, Zombozo disappears in a cloud of smoke and confetti, reappearing behind Cannonbolt. Cannonolt tries to roll into him, but Zombozo uses a muleta to avoid him. As Cannonbolt recovers, Zombozo gloats and makes his getaway. He is then pounced on by Cannonbolt, who proceeds to run him over. Max and Gwen (still hypnotized) rate his attack a 10 with some signs. Zombozo grabs a barrel and hurls it at Cannonbolt, who leaps over it. He is then hit by one, but jumps over the next two (re-contextualized as a Donkey Kong-like game). He lands in front of Zombozo and knocks the clown into a wall, which causes a mustached man to panic as a review board jots down notes.

There is no dialogue provided in the storyboards.

Ian Mutchler's Test

In a warehouse, Zombozo tosses a tennis ball in the air and whacks it with his mallet towards Ben as Cannonbolt. He makes a pun, calling Cannonbolt "Tennys-ball", which Cannonbolt tries to correct him on, only to be pelted by tennis balls. Zombozo tries to escape by climing on top of a shelf, so Cannonbolt rolls into the shelf, knocking it over. However, Zombozo grabs onto the ceiling rafters, and tells Cannonbolt he fell for his trap. Cannonbolt looks over, and spots a bag adorned with a picture of Zombozo (dubbed Minibozo). Minibozo says "Love...me...", and Cannonbolt calls it awful craftsmanship. Zombozo reveals that was the intention, as he makes his escape. Cannonbolt notices the shelves he knocked over, and uses them as a ramp. He rams into the clown, sending both of them out of the warehouse. Zombozo's flight continues, as Cannonbolt makes his landing. A small piece of debris then falls on Cannonbolt's head.

Jess Sims' Test

In a warehouse, Ben as Cannonbolt attempts to outrun Zombozo, who is a driving a tiny car armed with a "bombzooka". Cannonbolt spots a pipe, and gets an idea. He tears it out of the ground, and uses it to hit three of Zombozo's bombs back at him. Cannonbolt then rolls into a sphere, and he chases down Zombozo. Zombozo presses a button on his dashboard, summoning banana peels from his car, which Cannonbolr struggles to get around. Cannonbolt is then blindsided by a giant banana, sticking him to a wall. He times out, and Zombozo mocks him, saying nobody expects the Banana Bazooka. Ben admits the Banana Bazooka is cool, prompting Zombozo to reveal his grand finale. However, he accidentally hits the button on his dashboard labelled "Call mom", which predictably calls his mother, much to the clown's ire. While she embarrasses him with cutesy nicknames, he tries to turn it off. Ben, meanwhile, transforms into Heatblast and frees himself from the banana residue. He lights Zombozo's car on fire, and uses the Banana Bazooka to defeat him. In prison, Zombozo digs bananas out of his ear. The jailer gets his attention, telling him he has a visitor. Initally excited, he asks the jailer to elaborate, when suddenly, his mother shows up and smothers him. Zombozo blushes.

These particular boards were done in December 2017.