Hellboy is a 2019 superhero film based on the Dark Horse Comics character. A reboot of the Hellboy film series, it is the third live-action entry in the franchise. Directed by Neil Marshall, the film stars David Harbour in the title role, alongside Milla Jovovich, Ian McShane, Sasha Lane, Daniel Dae Kim, and Thomas Haden Church. The film draws inspiration from the comic books Darkness Calls, The Wild Hunt, The Storm and the Fury, and Hellboy in Mexico. In the film, Hellboy struggles with his psyche while preventing a resurrected sorceress from conquering the world.
The project began as a sequel to Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), with screenwriter Andrew Cosby and Mignola writing the script. Guillermo del Toro was not offered the full writer-director role he had performed in the previous films, and Ron Perlman, who had portrayed Hellboy, refused to return without del Toro's involvement. The project was reworked as an R-rated reboot after Marshall was hired as the director and Harbour cast as Hellboy. Principal photography began in September 2017 in the United Kingdom and Bulgaria, and ended in December.
Hellboy had its premiere in New York City on April 9, 2019, and was released in the United States on April 12, by Lionsgate. The film received negative reviews from critics, with criticism aimed at the story, inconsistent tone, and excessive gore, along with unfavorable comparisons to the del Toro films, but praise for the make-up effects and Harbour's performance. The film bombed at the box office, grossing $55.1 million against a $50 million production budget.
A second reboot of the film series, titled Hellboy: The Crooked Man, was released in 2024.
Plot
In 517 A.D., the evil Blood Queen, Vivienne Nimue, unleashes a plague on England until King Arthur thwarts her with the aid of Ganeida, a member of her coven. Arthur uses Excalibur to dismember Nimue and hides her remains across England. In present-day Tijuana, Mexico, paranormal investigator Hellboy accidentally kills missing agent Esteban Ruiz, who has been transformed into a vampire, during a wrestling match. After hearing Ruiz's dying words, prophesying that the end is coming, Hellboy is brought back to the B.P.R.D. in Colorado. He is assigned by B.P.R.D. leader Trevor Bruttenholm, his adoptive human father, to assist the Osiris Club in hunting three giants in Great Britain. The club's seer, Lady Hatton, reveals Bruttenholm was meant to kill Hellboy when he came into the human world as a result of the Nazis' Project Ragna Rok but instead raised him. Meanwhile, a pig-like fairy known as Gruagach is advised by the witch Baba Yaga to retrieve Nimue's limbs so that she may grant his wish for revenge against Hellboy.
During the hunt, Hellboy is betrayed and nearly killed by the hunters before they are ambushed by the giants. Hellboy fights and kills the giants until he collapses from exhaustion, only to be rescued by a young woman. He awakens in her flat, recognizing her as Alice Monaghan, a medium he once rescued from fairies as a baby. Sending a team to retrieve Hellboy, Bruttenholm introduces Hellboy to M11 agent Ben Daimio and relays that Nimue's remains have been taken, and the last piece is stored at the Osiris Club. Finding the club slain, Alice channels Hatton's spirit, who reveals that Nimue seeks Hellboy to cause the apocalypse. Nimue's arm is taken by Gruagach, and Nimue distracts Hellboy by appealing to his frustrations, allowing Gruagach to escape. Hellboy reveals that Gruagach is a changeling who took baby Alice's place before Hellboy branded him with iron and forced him to return Alice, which led to Gruagach hating Hellboy for taking his chance to be human.
Daimio takes them to M11 headquarters before secretly acquiring a special bullet to kill Hellboy. After an argument with Bruttenholm about his adoption, Hellboy angrily storms off until he is magically transported to Baba Yaga's house. Having shot out Baba Yaga's eye, Hellboy is talked into giving up one of his eyes for Nimue's location. Hellboy reneges on the deal and is cursed to lose a loved one. On the way to Nimue's location at Pendleton, Daimio reveals to Alice that he was the sole survivor of a demonic jaguar attack.
Nimue fully restores herself and kills her coven, but spares Ganeida. Hellboy attempts to stop her, but is overwhelmed. Nimue poisons Alice and flees, as Ganeida directs Hellboy to the resting place of Merlin to save Alice. After Merlin cures Alice and puts her and Daimio to sleep, he reveals that Hellboy is Anung un Rama, the firstborn male heir of Arthur through his mother, who was spirited to Hell by his father. When offered Excalibur, Hellboy refuses after seeing a vision of himself causing the apocalypse, while Merlin, having exhausted his magic, disintegrates.
Meanwhile, Nimue attacks M11 and abducts Bruttenholm as the group follows her to St Paul's Cathedral. Hellboy battles an empowered Gruagach aided by Daimio in his jaguar form. However, Nimue betrays and kills Gruagach and propels Hellboy into Arthur's hidden tomb that holds Excalibur. Nimue kills Bruttenholm and an enraged Hellboy pulls out the sword, allowing demons to emerge from Hell. Alice channels Bruttenholm's spirit to appeal to Hellboy's humanity, allowing him to decapitate Nimue and toss her head into Hell after the demons are sent back. Hellboy and Bruttenholm exchange farewells and Daimio discards the special bullet.
Six months later, Hellboy, Daimio and Alice raid the Oannes Society where they find the water tank of Abe Sapien. In a mid-credits scene, Hellboy is consoled at Bruttenholm's grave by the ghost of his hero Lobster Johnson. In a post-credits scene, Baba Yaga enlists an unseen force to seek out Hellboy with the promise of allowing him to finally die.
Cast David Harbour as Hellboy / Anung Un Rama: A powerful demon who works for the government organization Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (B.P.R.D.). Harbour was suggested for the role by Mignola after having seen his work on Stranger Things. Harbour stated that the film would be a "character piece" and feature mature themes and "complicated subjects" that warrant the film's R-rating, stating, "It really is this study of this man going through this horrible conundrum and we really get to go in deep with him." Mignola stated that Harbour had been researching the character, adding, "He's texting me Hellboy questions about his history, about what the character would think about this or about that." Mignola described Harbour's Hellboy as being more dramatic, gritty, and emotionally explosive than Perlman's. Harbour refrained from imitating Perlman's Hellboy by depicting his own version similar to a "teenager," describing him as "younger" and "rougher," stating, "He's really struggling with the idea of whether or not he's a good person." Milla Jovovich as Vivienne Nimue, the Blood Queen: A powerful British sorceress from the Dark Ages, who seeks to annihilate humanity. Harbour had stated that Hellboy has a "very special relationship" with Nimue and that the film expands her role from the comics. Jovovich described the character as being "literally the queen of the underworld," serving as the mother of the monsters, and described Nimue's plan as "beautiful" and "relevant" to today's political climate in trying to bring people together. Ian McShane as Professor Trevor "Broom" Bruttenholm: Hellboy's adoptive father and the founder of the B.P.R.D. He, Satton, and Lord Glaren of the Osirus Club were given decelerated aging by a powerful spirit through a seance that made them aware of the potential threat that Hellboy posed. Harbour stated that their version of Bruttenholm is a much harder character who does not sympathize with Hellboy questioning his place in the world. Sasha Lane as Alice Monaghan: A young woman of part Irish descent, who became a powerful medium after she was kidnapped by fairies as a baby. Harbour stated that the character "gets to play with some really interesting ideas of, sort of, being a witch and having visions". Daniel Dae Kim as Ben Daimio: An M11 military and agent member of the B.P.R.D. who, due to a supernatural encounter, can turn into a terrifying werejaguar when angered or in pain and uses injections to suppress the transformations. Ed Skrein was originally cast in the role but upon discovering that Daimio was portrayed in the comics as Japanese-American, he withdrew to allow an Asian actor to be cast instead. A month later, Kim was cast in the role. Stephen Graham (voice) and Douglas Tait (on-set; uncredited) as Gruagach: A pig-like fairy who restored Nimue to exact revenge on Hellboy. Graham provides the voice for Gruagach while Tait provides the physical performance. Sophie Okonedo as Lady Hatton: A resident seer at the Osiris Club, an ancient English club dedicated to uncovering supernatural mysteries. Alistair Petrie as Lord Adam Glaren: A high-ranking member of the Osiris Club. Brian Gleeson as Merlin: An ancient and powerful sorcerer, a figure of Arthurian legend. Penelope Mitchell as Ganeida: An elder witch who has decided that Nimue's wrath has gone on for too long and must be stopped. Mark Stanley as King Arthur: The ruler of Camelot who is based on the figure of Arthurian legend. Thomas Haden Church as Lobster Johnson: A vigilante with a violent reputation as he killed mobsters and Nazis while burning his trademark lobster claw symbol into their foreheads with the palm of his gloved hand. Emma Tate (voice) and Troy James (on-set) as Baba Yaga: A one-eyed Russian witch who lives in a chicken-leg house, having lost her right eye to Hellboy in the past. Tate provides the voice for Baba Yaga, while James provides the on-screen performance.
Additionally, Mario de la Rosa plays Esteban Ruiz / Camazotz, Ava Brennan and Anthony Delaney play Alice's mother and father, respectively. Atanas Srebrev and Dawn Sherrer appear as Agent Madison and Agent Strode, respectively, while Markos Rounthwaite plays Grigori Rasputin and Vanessa Eicholz appears as Ilsa Hepstein. Ilko Iliev plays Professor Doctor Karl Ruprect Kroenen, Joel Harlow portrays Von Krupt, Dimiter Banenkin plays Leopold Kurtz, and Kristina Klebe portrays Leni Riefenstahl.
Production Development In 2014, Hellboy creator Mike Mignola began work with writer Andrew Cosby on the story for a new film. The project was initially intended as a sequel to Guillermo del Toro's films Hellboy and Hellboy II: The Golden Army, which starred Ron Perlman as the title character. Del Toro was offered a producer credit, but declined, wishing instead to direct his own script for Hellboy III, and Perlman refused to return without del Toro's involvement. When Neil Marshall joined, it was decided that the new film would instead be a reboot. Marshall signed on to direct the film due to not making a feature film in nine years and also being initially intrigued by the horror pitch. In May 2017, Mignola announced on his personal Facebook page that the reboot, then titled Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen, would be directed by Marshall and star David Harbour as the eponymous character. Mignola also stated that the film would have an R-rating. At the time, it was targeted for a 2018 release. Andrew Cosby had stated that the film would be a "darker, more gruesome version of Hellboy". Harbour further elaborated on the film's R-rating, "This movie is gory, I mean it's like a horror movie. There's a lot of blood in it. It's brutal."