The HELLBOY Reboot Was Originally Connected To Guillermo Del Toro's Films
Hellboy creator Mike Mignola revealed some interesting news regarding the upcoming reboot, Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen, that is being directed by Neil Marshall. While talking with Nerdist, Mignola said that they were originally thinking that this next film should continue in the same universe that Guillermo Del Toro built with the previous two films. They ultimately decided against it when Marshall came on board. He explained:
“We originally started trying to tie it to the del Toro universe and continue those movies. But once we had Neil Marshall, we thought, ‘Why are we going to try and continue that universe?’ Because a del Toro movie is a del Toro movie, and you don’t want to try and hand a del Toro movie to someone else. Especially someone as great as Neil Marshall. So that’s when it went from being this continuation to being a reboot. It’s exciting to have another director. It’s exciting to take another path, to take that material and give it another leaning.”
As cool as it would've been to see Del Toro's vision live on in the new film, it would have only made sense if Del Toro were a part of it. I wouldn't want to see another director come in to just try and replicate what's already been done. With Marshall coming on board to direct, and David Harbour set to take on the role of Hellboy, it only makes sense to give it a fresh start with a new style. When talking about Harbour playing the lead role Mignola said:
“[David] is super excited about being Hellboy and he wants to make sure he gets it right. He’s texting me Hellboy questions about his history, about what the character would think about this or about that. It’s really exciting to be back and see this thing come together.”
I'm sure Harbour will be great in the role. Yeah, he's no Ron Perlman, but he'll be able to bring his own uniqueness to the character. I loved Del Toro's original films, but I'm still excited to see how this new movie turns out, especially with its visuals. One thing we do know is that it will have a dark and gruesome tone just like the comics. Marshall's goal is also to implement practical effects as much as he can. Then there's the R-rating that was pre-approved so that Marshall would have the creative freedom to do what he wants with the story.
To catch up on all the previous Hellboy movie news, click here. Are you disappointed that they didn't connect the universes?