'Hellboy' director wants to give it that 'everyday feeling'

He's the son of the Devil, but in a good way.

Arriving on Earth through a mystic doorway opened by Nazi scientists at the end of World War II, the baby creature - code-named "Hellboy" - has bright red skin, a pointy tail, and a giant, indestructible stone hand. Lucky for us, he was raised by the brilliant and benevolent British Professor Broom and schooled to have 1950's American morals.

In 2008, he's a hardboiled tough with a heart of gold who works for the secret government Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, and saddles up to save the world because it's his job. When he's off the clock, Hellboy drinks beer and eats candy; he likes to smoke cigars, too, and watch "The Three Stooges" with his cats.

And he lives in New Jersey.

"Hellboy II: The Golden Army," opening today, is the sequel to "Hellboy," the 2004 sleeper hit which raked in nearly $100 million worldwide, and is based on the Dark Horse comic book created by Mike Mignola.

Guillermo Del Toro, the Mexican uber-artiste behind "Pan's Labyrinth," and the man anointed by Peter Jackson to direct JRR Tolkien's pre-"Lord of the Rings" fantasy "The Hobbit," directed both "Hellboy" films. Del Toro is a huge fan of the comic books, and said that he loves the "fallibility" of Hellboy and the other characters in Mignola's series.

"I find it beautiful that [the characters] are emotional about the things they do," he said. "I like these people to make choices that are human."

Del Toro revels in the real-life details of superheroes. "I want to know who fills the Batmobile. Does it use unleaded, or diesel? Who patches the Spider-Man suit, you know? Does Iron Man wash his own socks? I love to know those details."

Del Toro, who collaborated with Mignola on the script, tried to bring that "everyday feeling" to Hellboy's life. When Hellboy and fellow BPRD agent Abe Sapien, an aquatic empath, are pining for their true loves, they act like real people, commiserating as they get drunk, finally singing along with a sappy Barry Manilow tune.

"The people I admire in life are not heroes 24 hours a day," Del Toro added. "They're heroes just in the moment they need to be heroes. I thought it was interesting to have these guys act like humans - fallible - and perhaps in a true Mexican way, having a few beers and singing a song."