The Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense will factor into Neil Marshall’s adult-oriented Hellboy reboot, but they’ll take a backseat to David Harbour’s cigar-chomping demon.
At least, that’s according to series creator Mike Mignola, who offered some new insight into the upcoming revival just as Marshall and his team prepare to get the cameras rolling next month. With Harbour at its core, we know Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen has already cast Resident Evil actress Milla Jovovich as the titular villain, while also adding Ian McShane (American Gods, Game of Thrones) as Hellboy’s adoptive father, Professor Trevor Bruttenholm (or simply Professor Broom).
On paper, it’s a lineup that’s simply bursting at the seams with potential, and we imagine the Powers That Be will be hoping to announce one or two more recruits before production gets going in earnest. Story-wise, and from the little information that has been released thus far, all we know is that Rise of the Blood Queen will have Mike Mignola’s beloved creation “squaring off against a medieval sorceress who seeks to destroy humankind.”
Exactly how the B.P.R.D. factors into that pitch remains to be seen, but Mignola’s revelation does align with previous reports suggesting that Rise of the Blood Queen has what it takes to launch a bona fide franchise. Let’s just hope that prospective universe puts its best foot forward unlike, say, Universal’s Dark Universe and The Mummy.
Per Mignola:
The B.P.R.D. figures into the movie. I don’t want to say who is and who isn’t in the movie. I think it’s fair to say, however, that the primary focus is Hellboy and not a B.P.R.D. team movie.
Pitched as a darker and more gruesome take on the unruly hellspawn, Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen is expected to claw its way into theaters late next year – just don’t hold your breath for a Ron Perlman cameo.
