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Guillermo Del Toro On His Role In Death Stranding: “I’m Just A Puppet”

Guillermo Del Toro is not creatively involved in Hideo Kojima's PS4 exclusive Death Stranding, stating that he is "just a puppet."

It’s no secret that Hideo Kojima has assembled his dream team for Death Stranding, the upcoming PS4 exclusive from Kojima Productions. There’s The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus, who famously worked under Kojima for the now-canned Silent Hills, along with Mads Mikkelsen and Guillermo del Toro, the illustrious filmmaker behind Pacific Rim, Pan’s Labyrinth and the Netflix original series Trollhunters.

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Before Konami pulled the plug, del Toro also had a hand in the creation of both Silent Hills and its nerve-shredding demo, P.T., and though one might assume that the two friends were working closely to nurture Death Stranding, Guillermo del Toro told IGN in a recent interview that he will feature exclusively as an actor.

“I’m involved as a character. Kojima-san called me and said, ‘I want you to be a character in the game,’ and I said, ‘Gladly’,” explains del Toro. “He’s discussed his ideas so I could understand the character, but other than that I’m not involved, creatively, at all. This is entirely Kojima-san’s game.

Comparing himself to “a puppet in [Kojima’s] hands,” the legendary filmmaker went on to discuss his hopes for Death Stranding, and why he believes the mysterious sci-fi title is “gonna be a fantastic game.”

“I think it’s gonna be a fantastic game, 100 percent. But this is him and his ideas. I’m just a puppet in his hands. My contribution is limited to being a cheerleader for his ideas and being scanned for long hours at a time. That’s about it.”

Development on Death Stranding is expected to get going in earnest this year, though there’s currently no word of a potential release window. Fans can rest assured that Kojima’s peculiar vision is beginning to coalesce, as Rogue One star Mikkelsen recently swung by the studio’s HQ.