Hellboy Reboot Director On What To Expect From Its R-Rating

It’s tough to surprise fans of comic book movies, considering virtually every character has been getting their own movie or TV show lately, but one of the biggest shockers of the year was the announcement that a Hellboy reboot would be on the way, with Neil Marshall taking over directorial duties and Stranger Things‘ David Harbour taking on the lead role.

Marshall recently appeared on the Post Mortem podcast, where he spilled some details about what fans can expect from the film.

Considering the storylines involve demons and monsters, Marshall revealed he aims to lean into the dark subject matter and adult-oriented content, explaining, “We’ve been granted permission to do it R-rated, which for me is just like taking the cuffs off. It’s like, okay, so now we can just make the movie we want to make.”

This doesn’t mean he will arbitrarily make the film graphic, however, as he pointed out, “It’s not like I’m going to force it to be R-rated, but if it happens to come out that way, just because of my own sensibilities, then fine. And nobody’s going to stop us. So, that’s the main [difference]. And I’m sure, obviously, the success of things like Deadpool and Logan have not hurt that cause. But, also, when you go back the original material, it is kind of bloody, so I’m going to embrace that.”

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The director has helmed films like Dog Soldiers and The Descent, which both featured plenty of gore and plenty of practical effects, with Marshall revealing that’s a trend he aims to continue.

“It’s definitely going to be as practical as we can possibly make it,” Marshall confessed. “I love to do stuff in camera whenever I possibly can, and use CG as the amazing tool that it is, to enhance or expand upon the world, but not to use it to replace reality, when you can do it [for] real.”

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The surprise about a Hellboy movie being made wasn’t based on its mere existence, but considering how much fans loved director Guillermo del Toro‘s version of the film starring Ron Perlman, and knowing that the duo were interested in continuing the adventures, it was surprising to learn the character would be placed in different creative hands.