Netflix Gets Infamous Comic Book Reboot That’s Already Getting Another Reboot
The Guillermo del Toro Hellboy movies are two of the most underrated comic book films of all time, and it’s a shame he never got to make his third film. Instead, the franchise was rebooted in 2019 with Hellboy, which saw David Harbour taking over the role from Ron Perlman. If you want to check this reboot out for yourself before the next reboot of the character comes out, you can stream it on Netflix.
Inspired By The Graphic Novels
Hellboy is directed by Neil Marshall and has a solid cast that includes David Harbour in the titular role alongside Milla Jovovich, Ian McShane, Sasha Lane, Daniel Dae Kim, and Thomas Haden Church. In the film, Hellboy crosses paths with Nimue the Blood Queen, a resurrected sorceress on a quest for vengeance who wants to conquer the world.
The film draws inspiration from the comic book storylines Darkness Calls, The Storm and the Fury, The Wild Hunt, and Hellboy in Mexico, though it doesn’t quite live up to its source material.
A Box Office Bomb
2019’s Hellboy was met with mostly negative reviews, and it bombed at the box office, only making $55.1 million against a $50 million budget.
Even the director, Neil Marshall, doesn’t want to be associated with the film, saying, “I quickly found out that A: the script was terrible. B: it was never going to get better before we shot it, despite many attempts,” adding, “You can’t polish a turd, no matter how much you try.” The critic reviews weren’t nicer than this, as many criticized the film for having a horrible story, terrible pacing, and lacking imagination.
Guillermo Del Toro Was Never Asked To Return
It’s unfortunate that 2019’s Hellboy turned out the way it did, considering the project began as a possible sequel to Guillermo del Toro’s 2008 effort, The Golden Army. However, del Toro wasn’t offered the writer and director role for the film for some inexplicable reason, which caused Ron Perlman to refuse to participate in the project, too. So, while we almost got del Toro’s third Hellboy film, we got this reboot instead.
Another Reboot On The Way
You would probably be hard-pressed to find too many big fans of the 2019 Hellboy movie, especially knowing that there’s an alternate version of events where Guillermo del Toro and Perlman would have returned for a third movie. However, fans of the Dark Horse Comics character can at least take solace in the fact that there’s another reboot of the franchise on the way. From what we do know about the latest reboot it sounds like it’ll be much more in line with fan expectations.
The Second Reboot Sounds Much Better
The upcoming reboot of the franchise is titled Hellboy: The Crooked Man and is directed by Brian Taylor in a screenplay he co-wrote with Christopher Golden and Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. The film will draw inspiration from The Crooked Man limited series that Mignola wrote and stars Jack Kesy in the lead role alongside Jefferson White and Adeline Rudolph. The film will follow the titular character in the 1950s as he comes across a community haunted by witches and their leader – a devil known as The Crooked Man.
Hellboy: The Crooked Man has completed production but doesn’t have an official release date yet. The release window is reportedly Fall 2024, but we’ll have to wait and see if that pans out. In the meantime, you can check out the 2019 Hellboy reboot on Netflix.
