Acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro's adaptation of Elordi's terrifying Frankenstein look.

Del Toro is known for his mystifying, terrifying, and sympathetic monsters, from the wise Faun and malevolent Pale Man in Pan's Labyrinth to the mistreated Amphibian Man in The Shape of Water. He always delves into themes of monstrosity in humanity. At Netflix's Tudum presentation, del Toro called Frankenstein "the culmination of a journey that has occupied most of [his] life [...] monsters have become [his] personal belief system." His directing Frankenstein, arguably the preeminent monster story, is the culmination of the themes he has explored in his films and recounts a narrative that parallels his own career.

Frankenstein Has Been A Career-Long Pursuit For Guillermo del Toro

Del Toro Has Been Working On Frankenstein For "25 Years"

Also at Tudum, del Toro says that he has been "actively pursuing [Frankenstein] now for 25 years," and that "there are strands of Frankenstein throughout his films." As early as 2007, del Toro publicly stated that he ardently wanted to make his own adaptation of Frankenstein (via JoBlo.com). As of 2009, he had a multi-picture deal with Universal Pictures, one of which was intended to be Frankenstein, and had plans to cast frequent collaborator Doug Jones as Frankenstein's monster (via Variety, MTV).

However, this iteration of Frankenstein was shelved in 2014, possibly because Universal was taking things in a different direction with the development of the Dark Universe (according to Doug Jones via Collider). Del Toro was also hesitant to go ahead then because Frankenstein was his "dream project," and he wanted to do it right (via Collider). Del Toro had no official plans to make Frankenstein for almost another decade, but he still regularly commented on his desire to do so, in 2020 even saying that he would make a two-to-three film series to cover all the book's events faithfully (via Comic-Con International).

It was not until del Toro signed another multi-year deal with Netflix in the 2020s that Frankenstein finally got off the ground. Del Toro first made Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio for Netflix, which won Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. After this, the time was right, and with the funding and creative freedom he needed, del Toro went ahead with Frankenstein for Netflix.

Guillermo del Toro's Journey To Make Frankenstein Parallels Victor Frankenstein's Story

Oscar Isaac Alludes To del Toro Being A "Mad Genius"

At Tudum, star Oscar Isaac said: "This is the story of a brilliant creator driven to the edge of madness [...] in his years-long pursuit bringing his creation to life — and I'm not talking about you [to Guillermo del Toro]." Jokes aside, Isaac invokes the mythos of this being a project that del Toro has fervently pursued for decades. All the while, the director has made himself known for monster movies that are creepy and always a tad bizarre. As Victor Frankenstein dedicated his life to creating his monster, del Toro invested something similar into this movie — which will have a more positive effect on the world.

Frankenstein's Parallel To Guillermo del Toro Makes The Movie Even More Special

This Is The Monster Movie To End All Monster Movies

The enigmatic parallels, or distorted mirror images between del Toro and Frankenstein make this movie that much more special. After years of creating monsters that force us to consider the truths of human nature, del Toro gets to create the ultimate monster, which he arguably has been working on all along as he revised ideas in the back of his mind. Del Toro has been so successful in pushing the envelope of fantasy movies because of his vision, but also his dedication, and Frankenstein stands to be the one that has more of this than all the rest.

Source: Netflix Tudum 2025, JoBlo.com, Variety, MTV, Collider, Comic-Con International