Hellboy: The Crooked Man marks the third time a movie studio has tried adapting the indie comics icon to live-action. Ron Perlman’s take on the character is received well by fans, yet David Harbour’s Hellboy in 2019 was panned by critics and audiences alike. Now Hellboy: The Crooked Man will soon enter theaters and although reviews haven’t surfaced for the film yet, Hellboy creator Mike Mignola is an early fan. In fact, Mignola says the film is the most faithful adaptation of the character yet.
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“[My favorite thing was] to see how close it is to the comics. There are several shots in there that are panels from the comics and your fear is always, especially when you say it’s gotta be my favorite story, that it’s going to lose something,” Mignola told Screen Rant at San Diego Comic-Con. “But all my favorite moments from the comic are in there. I mean, you’re holding your breath as you’re watching this. I actually got to watch, I didn’t go on set, but I saw dailies, and you’re just going, ‘I can’t believe this! Oh my God, you got it in there and is it going to stay in there when they cut the movie?’”
In the comic it’s based on, Hellboy heads to the Appalachias where investigates hauntings, witches, and the eponymous Crooked Man, a suspected demonic entity.
“Because there is a particular moment in the church that I loved so much. I thought, ‘Are they going to add special effects to that?” It’s just a quiet little moment. It could easily get cut, but it stayed all the way through,” Mignola added. “”Not that I didn’t like the other movies or love bits and pieces from the other movies, but it was just… I was so grateful to see somebody that really did want to put [them in there], because at some point everybody says, ‘Oh yeah, we’re going to put your comic on screen,’ But this is the time that it happened.”
Hellboy: The Crooked Man stars Jack Kesy in the titular role. Jefferson White, Adeline Rudolph, Joseph Marcell, Leah McNamara, Hannah Margetson, and Martin Bassindale will also star. Hellboy: The Crooked Man is produced by Millennium Films, and is set to be released by Ketchup Entertainment. Bryan Taylor, Mignola, and Christopher Golden co-wrote the script.
Hellboy: The Crooked Man is set for release later this year.
