Why Do We Need A Hellboy 3?
It’s highly debatable to say that the two Hellboy films are among del Toro’s best works, but they are certainly unique adaptations, with characters that inhabit a unique (if recognizable world). While the second Hellboy did not do as well as the first, it’s in many ways a better film, dealing with a complexity of themes that the original only hinted at. Given his more recent critical and monetary successes, del Toro is in an even better position to write his own deal than he was when the original Hellboy premiered – if he were to dedicate himself to the project of doing a third film, I don’t see how anyone could stop him.
But why do we need a Hellboy 3? Because it’s unique. It’s not in the MCU or the DCU, it’s not going to feature Spider-Man and it’s not as slick or impersonal as many of the comic book films being made right now. It deals with outcasts, not with millionaires; with the duplicity of good and evil, of choices made and promises broken. The defense of the human world is not the endgame – it rather makes a point of drawing out the “holes in the hearts” of human beings, and even has viewers cheering against their own species. Far from being andro-centric, it makes the argument for the mythic and the legendary in the form of the so-called freaks.
At the end of the day, Hellboy is not about “fitting in” or becoming a hero. It’s about being a hero already, giant red horns and all.
Published: May 5, 2015 10:09 am