Back before Marvel Studios dominated the superhero world, one of the most prolific superhero filmmakers was Guillermo del Toro. Not only did he direct the second “Blade” film, but he also helmed both “Hellboy” and “Hellboy II: The Golden Army.” While he has flirted with superhero work since the filmmaker hasn’t dipped his toes back into the genre fully. And on social media recently, del Toro gives a peek into why he thinks the first two “Hellboy” movies were able to be made and why they wouldn’t be made today.
According to the director, the reason why “Hellboy II” was able to get made is due to the strong home video release of the film, something that doesn’t actually exist in today’s market, filled with streaming options. And even the first “Hellboy” film was able to get made because studios back then didn’t have Marvel box office totals to compare against.
“What allowed the two films to exist, it’s gone,” tweeted del Toro. “The Bluray DVD performance of the first Hellboy was massive. So big, that Ben Feingold, at Columbia, went full-on on the sequel development. Ben was so impressed by those numbers that he made Hellboy one of the very first blurays from Columbia Pictures. Far as I can recall, the number for home video surpassed theatrical.”
He added, “But, still, back then it was a countermovement to try and do superhero films, specially with material that didn’t have Marvel numbers. For many years, to me, the proto-comic book movie was Verhoeven’s ROBOCOP in so many ways.”
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The filmmaker then went on to explain how superhero films existed in a very different mold when the first “Hellboy” was created. And now that everything has changed, films such as del Toro’s “Hellboy” aren’t treated the same. Obviously, this is the case, as we saw with the recent release of the 2019 “Hellboy” reboot that starred David Harbour. That film was killed critically and DOA when it arrived in theaters a year ago. While some involved in the film have placed the blame elsewhere, del Toro obviously thinks the era of “Hellboy”-esque superhero films has already come and gone.
You can see his full explanation, including what he thought about going up against “The Dark Knight,” below: