Hellboy creator Mike Mignola is different than most comic character creators. He is still the sole owner of his creation. No one to tell him what to do with his character, which direction to take him, he is the Captain of his particular ship called Hellboy. These are exciting times for Mignola. His character is celebrating its 25th anniversary since it was first published, the new movie Hellboy starring David Harbour is due in April of 2019 from Summit Entertainment and he is prepping for Saturday’s panel at the New York Comic Con to promote the upcoming film. Good times, good times.
Making a movie based on his creation is not new to Mignola. As most fans know, this will be the third picture based on his hellacious bad tempered man about Hades. The first two were directed by Guillermo del Toro and starred Ron Perlman in the title role. When the thought came to making another, it came down to whether they wanted to follow the path del Toro had started or break away clean. In the end, they decided it would be unfair to the new director to pigeon hole him into following someone else’s vision so they started fresh with Director Neil Marshall and a new Hellboy in David Harbour. Harbour has had experience dealing with the supernatural in his role in Stranger Things. Upon being chosen for the role, Harbour spent long hours getting into the character. This sometimes included numerous texts back and forth as Mignola explained:
One night we were texting back and forth so much I said, ‘Dude here’s my phone number, just call me,’ ” Mignola said. “We must have had a two-and-a-half hour conversation…I remember thinking, ‘I hope I haven’t completely derailed his performance by giving him way too much information.
In deciding to go with Marshall as the director, it allowed them to go for a darker, more ominous look for the film which was more in line with Marshall’s strengths as a horror director. The movie is based on a trio of miniseries: Darkness Calls (2007), The Wild Hunt (2011) and The Storm and the Fury (2013), all published by Dark Horse that were written by Mignola but illustrated by Duncan Fegredo. Mignola considered them to be some of his best work:
“It’s my epic,” Mignola said, simply, of the sprawling story that forces Hellboy to confront his true heritage, pits him against the ruthless Queen of Blood (played in the film by Milla Jovovich) , and climaxes (at least in the comics) with the hulking hero’s apparent death.”
As for his involvement during actual filming, Mignola kept himself pretty scarce for the most part, trusting the filmmaker and the studio to do their job and being faithful to the source material. In fact, during one of his limited visits to the set, he was taken aback by how close things looked to the panels of one of his comics.
This is the first time I have been able to say honestly that I was on set and looking at something that looked like it jumped straight out of the comic. I never had that experience on any of the other stuff. There’s one scene in this movie where I was like, ‘Holy fuck,’ that’s pretty damn close — in the costumes and everything else — to a specific scene in the comics. That was a new experience.
Meanwhile, as Mignola waits for his film’s premier, there is a Comic Con panel to get ready for. Mignola will be attending along with Harbour during the panel and they are expected to be joined by fellow cast members Ian McShane, Daniel Dae Kim and Sasha Lane. Their New York Comic Con appearance is scheduled for Saturday morning at Javits Center, for those fortunate enough to be going.
If you have seen the recently released poster for this film, you have to be unconscious not to be pretty stoked for what they have in store for this film. For those who are attending their panel, you will have even more to get excited about. Does what you’ve seen and heard about Hellboy make you eager to see the finished project? Share your excitement with us at GVNation. Rest assured that your GVNation team will be there to share all the excitement at the New York Comic Con.
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 50 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove head first over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 18 year old boy with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
