Story highlights Method-2's designer denies claims South Korean robot is a hoax

Bulgarov says the robot-suit will be finished later in 2017

(CNN) It looks like a Transformer, moves like a Transformer and with a name like Method-2, it even sounds like a character from the blockbuster franchise.

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.

At full width, Method-2 has a span of over 23 feet.

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."

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