Reboots are a surefire way to drum up excesses of excitement and caution from the public. We live in an age where franchise features reign supreme, whilst we’re hellishly aware of how often things can go wrong with them, their swallowing of space for more original works notwithstanding.
Indeed, even with reboots like Top Gun: Maverick still having a field day with box offices and audiences alike, it’s no secret that you can’t win it all with reboots, and 2019’s Hellboy is an unfortunate example of that. With Guillermo del Toro out of the picture as the writer and director (itself a fairly alarming indication), to say nothing of Ron Perlman’s subsequent declining to reprise the lead role, it was enough to get folks worried and, sure enough, the film ended up being one of 2019’s low points for critics.
But it’s never a nice feeling to kick something when it’s down, and Doug Jones, who portrayed the character Abe Sapien in the original two Hellboy films, has done quite the opposite, sticking his neck out for the box office bomb.
In an interview with Screen Rant, Jones refused to give any flak to the 2019 reboot, instead choosing to laud David Harbour (Stranger Things, Black Widow)’s performance in the lead role while admitting that his involvement with the original films gave him some whiplash upon viewing the rebooted feature.
Of course, my big brother Red played by Ron Perlman is what I’m more used to, I guess. David did a great job, I thought, but aside from acting and all, it was a different tone, because it was also not a Guillermo del Toro film either. It has its merits, I can’t say anything bad about it.
Doug Jones is set to make his next appearance in Disney Plus’ Hocus Pocus 2, releasing on Sep. 30, where he will portray Billy Butcherson, Winifred’s ex-lover from 1693 whom she murdered after catching him cheating, and who is brought back to life as a zombie.
