Guillermo del Toro is no stranger to comic book adaptations, having put himself on the map with Blade II and then directing the quite successful Hellboy films. Surprisingly though, del Toro says that superhero movies don’t generally appeal him. It’s the monsters and the horror of those two films that motivated his involvement.
In a recent interview with Collider del Toro gave some insight into his comic book interests.
“The thing is that I’m not a superhero guy. I like monsters, and when the monster is a superhero, it’s a byproduct. Like Hellboy, the Hulk, Man-Thing, Swamp Thing, Sandman, Constantine, Demon, Dr. Strange, Spectre, Deadman. Those are the superheroes I followed as a kid religiously. I loved when the superhero genre crosses with horror. Morbius. Those are the guys I gravitated towards. Blade. So for me, to be interested in doing a superhero movie, it would need to be on the dark side or a Jack Kirby property. Kamandi, Demon, Mr. Miracle—I love any Kirby.”
“Over the years, when Avi Arad was in charge of Marvel, I often had the discussions with him. I came very close to doing Thor because I really wanted to bring the Norse mythology… It’s something I’m very attracted to. Create the giants and create the more fantastical version of that. But it’s not like I have many meetings with studios discussing superhero movies. They come to me. Normally I pass, respectfully or not. They like it, that we have a very quick response. I was very attracted to doing The Wolverine in Japan, because that’s my favorite chapter in the story of Wolverine. But I’m not a superhero guy. It’s very hard for me to… It’s one thing to like something and another to marry it for two, three years.”
Seeing del Toro work on either Thor or The Wolverine would have been very interesting. Although I love Thor, and I’m excited to see what James Mangold does with Wolverine, del Toro could have done spectacular things with either of those stories. But that isn’t what interested me most in that interview.
What really caught my eye is his list of superheroes he loves, and specifically the 8th on that list: Dr. Strange. A Dr. Strange film has been rumored for some time now, with a script reportedly being finished, just waiting for the green light from the studio.
Marvel Executive Jeremy Latcham recently voiced his desire for Dr. Strange to have his own film and they’ve wanted del Toro before. Sounds like a perfect match to me, doesn’t it?
With a back story involving demons, and the potential for scores of sorcerers across multiple dimensions, this sounds like it would be right up del Toro’s alley too. Any of the sorcery would be awesome to see translated to a live action film, but Strange trying to defeat Dormammu on the big screen has the potential to be one of the most epic battles of superhero film history.
Go ahead Marvel, get down on one knee, and propose that del Toro marries Dr. Strange, at least for two or three years.
I think this is a perfect match, but what do you think? Is Guillermo del Toro the best fit for a Dr. Strange movie?