When the Hellboy reboot was announced, fans of the series had mixed feelings. While they were no doubt excited to have more of the horned Anung Un Rama in their life, the fact that Guillermo del Toro – who just won an Oscar for the best picture with Shape of Water – would not be attached to the project disappointed many.
Instead, Neil Marshall will be at the helm for the project, with Stranger Things’ David Harbour starring as Hellboy.
The comic’s creator, Mike Mignola, has stated that the fact that Marshall is heading the project instead will actually be a blessing for fans of the original source material though. In an interview with EW, Mignola talked about how his involvement in the reboot changed from the original series.
“At various times I’ve jumped in and been much more active in the screenplay than I ever was on the Del Toro movies. But I did nothing so far as design stuff on the movie,” said Mignola. “Guillermo wanted me as a concept artist, but on this movie, there were other concept artists. I came in and I looked at some stuff, but they were trying to do something so close to what’s on the comics that they really leaned on what had been done by Duncan [Fegredo] and me in the comics.”
The original Hellboy movies started off pretty close to the comics, exploring Red’s origin story, but definitely tapered off in the second movie. While the set and costume designs were still colorful and elaborate, the story suffered, as Hellboy II: The Golden Army felt more like a set piece for the third movie, which never happened.
Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen will be released in theaters on January 11, 2019. For more information, be sure to check back to the site for updates, as well as all of your other nerdy news and needs!