Guillermo del Toro is one of the most successful filmmakers with his works in fantasies and horror flicks. Along with several box office records, the Hellboy creator has also been subjected to critical acclaim. While his works mainly centered around fantastical worlds and monsters, the filmmaker was also reported to be attached to many superhero projects that never saw the light of day.
One of the most notable projects that we could have received from Guillermo del Toro was The Wolverine. Besides the Hellboy movies and Blade II, there could be more movies in del Toro’s Roaster. The Oscar-winning director had a number of Marvel projects to which he refused to be attached.
Guillermo del Toro was almost associated with a Wolverine movie
Wolverine is one of the most renowned superheroes across every media. The Mutant even attained more popularity after being played by Hugh Jackman in the 20th Century Fox universe. While he is returning to his iconic role once again in the present MCU, the fans could have got a completely different version of the 2013 movie under Guillermo del Toro.
According to an interview with The Shape of Water maker, the storyline of Logan in Japan is his favorite storyline of the character so he came close to the project. Ultimately, he left the project as he didn’t want to associate himself with the movie for two to three years.
“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 one thing to like something and another to marry it for two, three years.”
Apparently, in 2012 after having a meeting with the then 20th Century Head Jim Gianopulos and Hugh Jackman, Guillermo del Toro rejected the movie as he didn’t want to invest such a long time in a superhero movie.
On top of it, the director has also explained that he is more of a monster guy than a superhero one. He loves it when there’s an amalgamation of both genres which can be seen in the characters of Hulk, Man-Thing, Swamp Thing, Sandman, or Morbius. This is also a major reason why he made Blade II and the Hellboy movies.
What are the other superhero projects turned down by Guillermo del Toro?
Interestingly, we could have seen the Pinocchio director’s take on many other Marvel ventures outside Blade II. The 58-year-old also revealed how he almost made Thor due to his attraction to monsters.
“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.”
Not only Thor but this list also has a Doctor Strange project that could have shown us a completely different take on the character. It was revealed by critically acclaimed writer Neil Gaiman when he was seen in the Happy Sad Confused Podcast. According to The Sandman creator’s words, this storyline of Stephen Strange was set to take place in the 1920s.
Unfortunately, the pitch to make such a Doctor Strange project was rejected by the studio as MCU was still not a scenario back then and the Sorcerer Supreme was undoubtedly not a part of their top priorities. Although moving forward we witnessed two directors having their take on the character, neither of them could leave a lasting impression.
We were also expected to receive a television series on Hulk following the success of The Avengers which was set to be made by Guillermo del Toro. However, like most of his Marvel associations, this ABC series also led to nothing.
Source: Collider
