The Hellboy reboot hits theaters next week (as will our review), and Lionsgate is making sure that no one mistakes the new film for its predecessors. Unlike Guillermo del Toro’s previous entries, this new Hellboyis rated R, and it makes the most of that rating in this blood-soaked sizzle reel.
Of course, we would expect nothing less from director Neil Marshall, who brought us 2005’s horror film The Descent. Marshall is clearly tapping into his horror roots with the film, which stars David Harbour in the titular role. The sizzle reel gives us a glimpse of Milla Jovovich’s Nimue, the Blood Queen, who seeks to destroy the world and take Hellboy as her king. In the sizzle, Professor Bruttenholm (Ian McShane) tells Hellboy, “She’s the queen of blood, and for fucking good reason.”
We see Jovoich beheaded and dismembered in the past, before being reassembled and resurrected in present day.We then see a series of fights, which involve monsters ripping people to shreds, giant beasts biting off heads, and Hellboy pulling out a giant’s eye. We also get our first glimpse of fan favorite character Lobster Johnson, played by Thomas Hayden Church (Spider-Man 3).
Lobster Johnson, aka The Lobster, is a vigilante whose signature move is burning his lobster symbol into the foreheads of his enemies. Johnson was so popular that he got his own spin-off series of comics, and nearly appeared in del Toro’s Hellboy sequel. It was rumored at the time that del Toro wanted to include the character in his planned third film in the series, with Bruce Campbell in mind to play Johnson.
The official synopsis reads:
“Hellboy is back, and he’s on fire. From the pages of Mike Mignola’s seminal work, this action packed story sees the legendary half-demon superhero (David Harbour, Stranger Things) called to the English countryside to battle a trio of rampaging giants. There he discovers The Blood Queen, Nimue (Milla Jovovich, Resident Evil series), a resurrected ancient sorceress thirsting to avenge a past betrayal. Suddenly caught in a clash between the supernatural and the human, Hellboy is now hell-bent on stopping Nimue without triggering the end of the world.”
What do you think of a darker, gorier Hellboy? Are you excited for the new film, or do you wish del Toro had been able to take a crack at it?
(via /Film, image: Mark Rogers/Lionsgate)
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