During a panel at this year’s New York Comic Con, Monster Hunter movie director Paul W. S. Anderson talked about all the monsters he crammed into the film. We already knew about the massive beasts, but Anderson confirmed some fan favourite critters are making an appearance too.
In the panel (ta, IGN), Anderson stated that Palicoes, small, feline companions from Monster Hunter: World, are a staple aspect of his production. “Well, you couldn’t make a Monster Hunter movie without having a Palico in it,” he said. “So definitely we lean into the Palico.” In Monster Hunter: World, players only get one Palico during the entirety of the action-RPG game, so the bond becomes quite special. In context here, that means Tony Jaa, who’s an established hunter in the film, should have a Palico pal by the time we meet him in the plot.
One famous Palico is Meowscular Chef, who retired from the hunting game in World to be a cook after assisting the Admiral, who’ll be portrayed by Ron Perlman on the big screen, for years. According to Anderson, Meowscular and star Milla Jovovich develop a rapport, of sorts. “We have one of the characters, Meowscular Chef, who’s the Admiral’s sidekick, who’s a fantastic character, who has this rather flirtatious relationship with Milla, which is really interesting,” he stated.
Everything about this movie is a mixed bag so far. The Palicoes sound cute and fun, but Meowscular flirting with Jovovich’s Capt. Natalie Artemis sounds like something from the Michael Bay Transformers flicks. Anderson went one to talk the behemoths the action-adventure game series is known for. As it happens, it’s no coincidence the Black Diablos featured in the first trailer.
“I love the Black Diablos,” he explained. “The Diablos is a creature that I just like, but the Black Diablos is particularly nasty because that’s a female Diablos that’s in heat. So it’s just very angry and very territorial.”
In a new clip below, you can see a visual comparison between the games and movie depictions of the beasts thus far, series director Kaname Fujioka praising Anderson’s approach:
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