One of the very first panels held at Atlanta's annual Dragon*Con was Celluloid Heroes, focusing on the adaptation of comic book material to film.
Among the panelists was Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, who joked, "It did wonders for booksales." Co-panelist Helen Slater, who starred as Supergirl in 1984, asked him what influence he, as the creator of the original material, had in the development of the script.
Mignola responded by explaining that over a six-year period, director Guillermo Del Toro sent scripts, seeking his involvement and input. Both were in agreement that actor Ron Perlman would be perfect as Hellboy. "I told him (Del Toro), 'When you get that done, call me.' "
Sure enough, Perlman accepted the role, and returned for a second outing in Hellboy II: The Golden Army. While the first film was an adaptation of Mignola's original story, Golden Army was not. "We tried to adapt another of my stories, but found that we couldn't," said Mignola.
Golden Army was also slightly more Del Toro's character as well as story, as Mignola cited instances he didn't feel were true to his character. "I told him (Del Toro), 'My Hellboy wouldn't do that,' and his reponse was, 'Yours would't. Mine would.' "
Also involved in the production of the Hellboy movies was Doug Jones, who played Abe Sapien. "I love Abe Sapien. I'll keep playing him up to Hellboy 14, if there is one."
Jones has been involved in comic book film adaptations since 1992, when he played a member of the Penguin's circus gang in Batman Returns, and also portrayed the Silver Surfer in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. "At first I found that role terrifying, but once they glued that ass on me..." prompting a great deal of laughter from the audience.
"At least you had legs," quipped Bruce Davison, citing his Senator Kelly action figure from the X-Men franchise. "My son said, 'So that's all you do? You melt?' He had to put my action figure in a glass of water in order for it to stand up.
"My favorite memory of shooting X-Men is sitting on a barstool and being taught 'photon torpedo acting' by Patrick Stewart," said Davison. "With number three being leaning to one side and number 10 throwing yourself across the room, Patrick would say, 'Left, seven,' and we as a group would react."
Davison also described the casting of Wolverine for the first X-Men film. "We had already started shooting in Toronto, and an actor named Dougray Scott was supposed to play Wolverine, but he was in another movie with Tom Cruise. That production ran long and he couldn't get away, so Bryan Singer found this guy who was doing Oklahoma! in London, playing Curly, and Bryan said, 'This guy's gonna be a big star.' And look where Hugh Jackman is now."
Bruce Davison and Helen Slater at the Celluloid Heroes panel
Slater, who starred as Supergirl fresh out of the High School for the Performing Arts – "Yes, it's that Fame school," she said – described the Supergirl production as being modeled too heavily on the Superman film franchise, "rather than giving it it's own life," she said.
In fairness, at the time, successful comic book adaptations to film were almost non-existent, and the Supergirl producers, who also produced the first three Superman films, had no other model to follow.
Since then, Slater has returned briefly to her Kryptonian roots with a guest appearance on Smallville, playing Lara, Clark's birth mother. "They made me feel very goddessy," she said. "It was great fun."
All the panelists agreed acting in such films is akin to walking a tightrope between being faithful to the source material so as not to alienate the audience, yet trying to find something legitimate in the character they are playing that they can hold onto and use as an actor.
Davison, who was featured in the ill-fated relaunch of the KnightRider television series, said it was always unnerving to have people on the set, whom nobody knew, wearing suits and whispering in the ear of the director.
"That's why Del Toro likes to shoot in European cities like Prague," explained Mignola with a laugh. "The suits are too afraid to follow him. Too much asbestos in those buildings."
Praise and adulation? Scorn and ridicule? E-mail me at philip@comicbookbin.com
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