New ‘Hellboy’ Trailer Promises Quips, Gore And An Uncomfortably Attractive Demon

Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy movies are some of the boldest, most fascinating works of contemporary big-budget Hollywood cinema — wild comic book adaptations stuffed with clockwork Nazis, super-intelligent fish people and a pack of elves that absolutely need to chill the fuck out a bit.

For that reason, the prospect of a new Hellboy reboot has always been treated as a bit, y’know, iffy. Del Toro and his star Ron Perlman were the perfect people to lead the series — the idea that they would be forced to take a step back and hand over the creative reins to a bunch of newcomers has always seemed like a dangerous proposition.

"In case any viewers want to catch up on Hellboy comics before the movie lands in April, @DarkHorseComics just published comprehensive new omnibus editions." – @cmholub, @EWhttps://t.co/9IK1gkr7Uq pic.twitter.com/w6f4eq5XYm

— Mike Mignola (@artofmmignola) March 1, 2019

Well, whether fans like it or not, a new reboot is coming, starring David Harbour of Stranger Things fame, and directed by Neil Marshall, the man behind excellent cave exploration horror flick The Descent and not-so-excellent Ancient Roman Empire adventure flick Centurion

We’ve already got one brief teaser for the flick; now a gory red-band trailer is here. Check it out, and we’ll meet again below:

So, uh, yeah — is anybody else a little bit worried? Hellboy was always sardonic, but this new iteration of the character seems like a demonic Deadpool, all too cool for school quips and tension-puncturing asides.

There’s also all the CGI, which is iffy at best. Del Toro has always been a great lover of practical effects; his original films look as good now as they did when they were first released, in no small part thanks to their reliance on in-camera trickery. Marshall clearly doesn’t have the same preferences — this new Hellboy looks like a cluster of CGI fireballs and PS4-looking gremlins. Which is a shame, because the ghoulies from the original Mike Mignola comic line are some of the most memorable around.

Hmm, I guess is what I’m saying.

Hellboy opens in Australian cinemas on Thursday April 11th.