The announcement that a new Hellboy film was being made and that Guillermo del Toro and Ron Perlman wouldn’t be involved wasn’t exactly greeted with open arms by fans. After all, del Toro’s widely considered to have nailed the tone of the comics with Hellboy and Hellboy II: The Golden Army, but due to both movies underperforming at the box office, studios refused to issue the green light for a third installment to round out the trilogy. In addition, Ron Perlman was pretty much perfect in the title role, making it difficult to imagine anyone else playing Big Red.
But we don’t have to imagine anymore, as we now have the very first trailer for Lionsgate’s reboot, arriving online one day ahead of schedule. And while it will surely prove to split fans down the middle, it certainly has us curious, painting a more violent but comedic depiction of the property than we saw with del Toro’s work. Not to mention that David Harbour, taking over for Perlman, appears to be giving a very different portrayal of Hellboy than his predecessor did.
What’s a little surprising about this preview is how it doesn’t especially fall in line with prior buzz about the reboot being a darker offering than del Toro’s two flicks, suggesting instead a bloody and one-liner-heavy affair more akin to the Deadpool movies. Granted, this could just be a matter of the marketing, but it’s hard to imagine the trailers for director Neil Marshall’s previous, more horror-oriented offerings like The Descent and Dog Soldiers choosing ’80s dance pop for their soundtrack.
Regardless, we’ll find out if the film can win over skeptics when the new Hellboy hits theaters on April 12th, 2019. Until then, feel free to leave your thoughts on the first preview for the pic in the comments section down below.
