The Hellboy 2019 episode of What Happened to This Horror Movie? was Written and Edited by Jaime Vasquez, Narrated by Tyler Nichols, Produced by John Fallon and Andrew Hatfield, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.
After Guillermo del Toro and Ron Perlman helped build a loyal fan base with the first two Hellboy films, rebooting the franchise seemed like the next logical step. At least to the studio. Moving forward without the fans’ blessing must’ve conjured up some evil energy, as the production was plagued with so many issues like lightning-fast casting changes, social media backlash, on-set tensions, a creatively stifled director, and a disastrous release, among other nightmares. Break out your “troubled production” bingo card and start crossing off the boxes. This is what happened to Hellboy (2019).
In 1994, artist Mike Mignola sold his prized creation, Hellboy, to Dark Horse Comics. Hellboy wasn’t your average friendly neighborhood superhero. He was a sarcastic and self-conscious chain-smoking cat lover. And he was clumsy thanks to his bulky stone-built “right hand of doom,” which served as his signature weapon. He works for the underground Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (B.P.R.D.), battling folkloric monsters and other supernatural villains. Though he was born half-human, half-demon and bound to bring apocalyptic doom to earth, “Big Red” (as he is known to fans) couldn’t care less about it. This relatable antihero impressed comic book readers, and ten years after Hellboy‘s debut issue hit stands, a movie adaptation, simply titled Hellboy, was released in theaters. Though the movie and its 2008 sequel, Hellboy: The Golden Army, were well-received by fans and critics, they couldn’t quite compete with the heavy hitters of the time. And despite interest in a third film, Lionsgate decided to reboot the franchise instead. Mike Mignola commented that the decision of where to take the franchise was momentarily up in the air, but they decided to move forward, as it would be the fairest way to accommodate a new director. Director Neil Marshall, best known for his 2005 horror smash The Descent, was approached by the studio with a syrupy sweet offer. He would get to call the shots on an R-rated superhero movie with a horror twist and the biggest budget of his career. The R-rating gave him the freedom to spill buckets upon buckets of blood. Though this would be the first film Marshall directed without writing the script himself, he happily accepted the offer.
According to Mignola, the studio’s plan was to adapt Hellboy: The Wild Hunt, which featured Queen Nimue as the central villain. The script was written by comic book writer and film producer Andrew Cosby. Mignola claimed that he and his usual co-writer Christopher Golden did several rewrites to the script, and there were even instances where they’d revise scenes just one day before cameras rolled.
In terms of casting, there’s no one more important than who is going to play Big Red himself. And wouldn’t you know it, Mike Mignola just happened upon him by chance. While watching an episode of Stranger Things, his wife pointed out David Harbour as a good choice to play Hellboy. Mignola agreed, noticing the actor’s “clunky, world-weary” vibe, which is exactly what Big Red needed. Harbour pointed out that his portrayal of Hellboy is a teenage version of Ron Perlman’s Hellboy. And throughout the film, the character is at a moral crossroads, pondering over the concept of good and evil, and where he fits in.
Thanks to the imaginative trend of naming reboots after the original, what would’ve been Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen was changed to simply Hellboy. Again. Mignola was initially surprised by the simple title, but figured it made sense since the goal was to start a series of new movies. Milla Jovovich was cast as Queen Vivienne Nimue, and she described her as being not evil, but misunderstood. Nimue wants the monsters she rules to unite with humans, and she lashes out when this is dismissed. And of course, every queen needs her loyal servant. In this case, it’s a massive, grumpy boar named Gruagach. Putting him together took a small army of talented people. Special Effects Artist Norman Cabrera and his team designed Gruagach’s look and sculpted his foam-latex body. Animatronic supervisor John Criswell created the character’s remote-controlled robotic head. And for the character’s dialogue, (voiced perfectly by actor Stephen Graham) they used CGI to move his mouth and create facial expressions. Wearing the boar suit was stuntman Douglas Tait. Tait briefly played Jason Voorhees in Freddy vs. Jason, and after wrapping up Hellboy, he went on to stunt double as Michael Myers in Halloween Kills.
Ian McShane, best known for HBO’s Deadwood series, played Hellboy’s father, Trevor “Broom” Bruttenholm. When offered the role, he said, “I don’t do decrepit,” prompting a rewrite to make Broom an active B.P.R.D. agent. David Harbour noted that McShane’s Broom is tougher and less sympathetic to Hellboy’s fish-out-of-water predicament than in previous films. But he and Hellboy still share a solid bond. Alice is played by Sasha Lane, a young actress who made her debut in 2016’s acclaimed indie American Honey. Her casting caused a bit of a stir because in the comic books, Alice is a redheaded Irish girl while Lane is African-American. The main gripe was how it seemed hypocritical after the controversy surrounding the casting of English actor Ed Skrein. Skrein was cast as B.P.R.D. Agent Ben Daimio, who didn’t quite share his look. Because the character is Asian in the comic books, fans took to social media to criticize the casting choice, calling it “whitewashing.” Soon after, Skrein withdrew from the project. The actor revealed that he was unaware of the character’s Asian descent, and as a descendant of mixed heritage himself, he took the issue of inclusivity very seriously. Just one week later, it was announced that Asian-American actor Daniel Dae Kim would be cast in the role. The actor quickly hopped on a plane, taking a thirty-hour flight to Bulgaria to begin filming. Kim had heard about the controversy before he was even part of the project, remarking that it was just one of many examples of the same unfortunate issue. But the choice to recast impressed him.
The story begins in the Dark Ages. An evil sorceress by the name of Vivienne Nimue was chopped up into pieces and scattered across England in boxes. Fast forward to present day, Gruagach, a giant boar who was once betrayed by Hellboy, tries to get revenge by piecing the Queen’s body back together. The queen is especially dangerous to Hellboy, as she can tempt the half-demon in him, and the two working as a team could wreak havoc on humanity. When word spreads that Hellboy might start the apocalypse, an occult group tries to kill him. Three giants interrupt their plan and kill the cultists. Hellboy fights the giants off, and after barely surviving, collapses in a field. A young psychic woman named Alice guides Hellboy’s dad and Ben Daimio, both B.P.R.D agents, to rescue him. Together, they uncover Nimue’s evil plan and track Gruagach and the Queen down at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, where Hellboy fights his inner demons and an emotional final battle takes place.
Regarding his appearance, the goal was to closely mirror Hellboy’s look from the comic books. Oscar-winning makeup artist Joel Harlow, a longtime fan of the comics, was happy to take Big Red back to his original design. He and makeup artist Heather Mages spent about six weeks applying the intricate makeup, which took about two-and-a-half hours a day. Harlow felt that the lengthy process paid off, describing Harbour as having an “imposing presence.” When scenes called for Hellboy to go beyond sarcastic to fully enraged, Harbour said he’d isolate himself on-set to get into the right frame of mind. Fortunately, Milla Jovovich was unfazed, and gave him the space he needed, and let others know to keep their distance when Harbour was getting into character.
Reportedly, the anger didn’t stop along with the cameras, as there were claims of Harbour repeatedly walking off set, refusing to do additional takes requested by the director. These allegations were dismissed by producer Lloyd Levin’s attorney, Martin Singer, who stated, “To the contrary, David Harbour gave everything he was asked of and more during filming.” Neil Marshall also spoke to entertainment news outlet The Wrap about several other issues, including multiple script rewrites during filming by David Harbour and Ian McShane, having no say over the final cut, and his editor being replaced. He even described moments where he gave direction to the actors, only for a producer to step in and outwardly contradict him. Levin’s attorney denied the claims in an email to The Wrap, calling them either false or misunderstandings. He added that Marshall was never guaranteed to have the final cut of the film.
Results were mixed when it came to the test screenings. David Harbour and Ian McShane’s performances drew praise, while the character of Queen Nimue was described as an underwhelming and stereotypical villain. The script was also deemed unimpressive. Overall, the movie’s pre-release hype was pretty lukewarm. Hellboy raised hell on its opening weekend, but not in the way it intended. It earned a discouraging $12 million, landing in third place at the box office. Hellboy didn’t fare much better over the five weeks it stayed in theaters, earning $22 million domestically and $33 million internationally, adding up to a total of $55 million against a $50 million budget.
The reviews did the box office no favors, scoring a 17% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences were more forgiving with a 47% rating. Critics slammed the overstuffed plot, cheap-looking CGI, excessive gore, and the overuse of out-of-place wisecracks in otherwise dramatic scenes. The site’s consensus summed it up as a “soulless reboot.” The notoriety was so bad that even the Razzies, the infamous awards ceremony that recognizes the worst in film, took notice. While it didn’t “win” any of the categories, Hellboy was up for 5 awards including Worst Actor, Worst Screenplay, Worst Director, Worst Prequel, Remake, or Rip-off, and the nomination anyone could’ve seen coming: Worst Disregard for Human Life and Public Property. Despite David Harbour’s Razzie nomination, one thing many critics and fans seemed to agree with was his standout performance. Though some fans weren’t ready for Ron Perlman to pass the torch-lit cigar, Harbour’s earthy charm and deadpan delivery make him a solid Hellboy in his own right.
During an Instagram Live session in May 2020, Harbour addressed the film’s poor reception, saying it “failed before (they) began shooting” because fans didn’t want a reboot. He acknowledged the impact that del Toro and Ron Perlman’s work had, adding, “the Internet was like, we do not want you to touch this.” Milla Jovovich also took to social media to note that many of her most iconic movies, like Dazed and Confused and Resident Evil, were panned by critics early on but later became cult classics, confident that Hellboy would share the same fate.
In 2024, the franchise saw another reboot with Hellboy: The Crooked Man, starring Deadpool 2’s Jack Kesy as the title character. This adaptation had its own set of issues, but that’s a horror story for another bedtime. Suffice it to say, Ron Perlman’s Hellboy has been the most successful to date. In an interview on podcast Collider Live, Perlman was asked about the 2019 reboot. He said a mouthful by skirting around the topic, then simply saying, “it’s kind of still an open wound.” Neil Marshall ultimately called the experience “soul crushing” and doesn’t consider Hellboy as part of his canon. He pointed out that the script stuck too closely to the source material, which might explain one of the film’s central issues.
The production seemed hell-bent (no pun intended) on lifting ideas straight off the comic book pages, but in doing so, it lost sight of what worked about the first two Hellboy films. The story probably would’ve been better off shortened into the first chapter of a trilogy or maybe even a series. It takes the kind of talent and dedication del Toro brought to Hellboy to pull it off. Could the reboot stand on its own, without del Toro? Yes. Could Neil Marshall have saved this film? Of course. But whoever or whatever’s at fault, we’re left with a product that feels only marginally like a Hellboy movie. Close, but no cigar. And that my friends, is what happened to Hellboy (2019).
A couple of the previous episodes of the show can be seen below. To see more, head over to our JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!
Arrow in the Head
