Guillermo del Toro Talks ABC’s Live-Action HULK; Reveals He Thought About Directing THE WOLVERINE and THOR

Like Marvel’s What If…? comic series, today’s installment from my epic hour-long interview with Guillermo del Toro is going to make you wonder what might have been.  That’s because when I asked del Toro about comic book movies and his interest in directing another one, he revealed that back when Avi Arad was running Marvel, they met to talk about del Toro directing Thor!

But that’s not all.

When 20th Century Fox was putting together The Wolverine, del Toro met with Jim Gianopulos and Hugh Jackman about directing it!  While I’m incredibly excited to see James Mangold‘s take on the character, I’ll admit a del Toro helmed Wolverine movie sounds incredible.  Hit the jump for more…including an update on ABC’s live-action Hulk series which he’s executive producing.

The big news for Hulk fans is that del Toro is waiting on some big name writer to have some time to work on the project, but it’s very much alive and still being developed.  With the success of The Avengers, it’s no surprise a live-action Hulk series would be a priority for both ABC and Marvel as it’s an easy way to keep the character in the limelight and selling action figures.  While I’d rather just see Hulk in the movies, if del Toro and his team can make it work on the small screen, I’d watch it every week.

In addition to Hulk and the comic book movies I’ve previously mentioned, del Toro revealed what kind of characters he’s interested in and we even talked a bit about Dr. Strange.

If you’re a del Toro fan or just a fan of comic book movies, I think you’ll enjoy this installment.  Expect more with del Toro tomorrow night.

transcript below video

Guillermo del Toro

• Live-action Hulk talk.  What’s the status and has the success of The Avengers altered the plans
• Has Marvel or DC approached him about directing a superhero movie
• Dr. Strange talk
• 2:30 – Reveals when Avi Arad was in charge of Marvel he almost directed Thor
• 3:00 – Talks about how he was very attracted to doing the Wolverine in Japan storyline because that’s his favorite Wolverine story. Met with Fox and Hugh Jackman about the movie.

Collider:  Something that you’ve been attached to—and I’m not sure if you still are—is this live-action Hulk thing.  What is the status of that?  And also, how has the success of The Avengers and the Hulk character in The Avengers possibly helped the live-action Hulk series?

GUILLERMO DEL TORO: I had one meeting with Marvel after Avengers and we had a very, very good chat.  We have a writer that we want to bring on board, a very, very concrete name.  I can’t reveal it, but we want to wait for that writer.  It’s a writer who is otherwise engaged.  So right now we are in a holding pattern until that writer becomes free.  Then we’re going to do a new draft of the script.

I would imagine that Marvel is probably whispering in your ear about doing a Marvel movie or a superhero movie.  Or even Warner Bros. saying, “Do you like any of the DC characters?”

DEL TORO: 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.

I know that Marvel is definitely trying to make a Dr. Strange movie, but maybe the Dr. Strange they want to make is more on the lighter side.  There might be a tone that you want to go with that maybe they don’t.

DEL TORO: 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.

So you say you met with Fox for Wolverine?

DEL TORO: I spoke to [Fox executive] Jim Gianopulos a while ago.  I thought about it.  I actually met with Hugh Jackman.  But it’s one thing to say… You have to differentiate between loving it as a fan, which is almost like dating, and creating it from scratch, which takes two to three years of your life, which is like a marriage.

Here’s the previous installments with del Toro:

• Part 1:  Guillermo del Toro Talks PACIFIC RIM, Comic-Con, and Working with Legendary’s Thomas Tull Who Asked Him to “Make it More Kick-Ass”
• Part 2:  Guillermo del Toro Talks PACIFIC RIM, Why They Used the RED EPIC & Didn’t Do 3D; Reveals Blu-ray Will Have 30 Minutes of Deleted Scenes
• Part 3:  Guillermo del Toro Explains Why He Put Together an International Cast for PACIFIC RIM; Talks About the Film’s Monsters, Robots, and Massive Battles
• Part 4: Guillermo del Toro Talks About His Love of MONDO, Whether PACIFIC RIM Will Get a Print, His Upcoming Book GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S CABINET OF CURIOSITIES, New Man Cave Purchases, and More
• Part 5: Guillermo del Toro Talks RISE OF THE GUARDIANS and PINOCCHIO; Hopes to Begin Voice Recording in Jan 2013 and Ron Perlman Will Play Stromboli