The first trailer for 2019’s Hellboy, starring Stranger Things’ David Harbour as the titular Dark Horse Comics character of the same name, was supposed to arrive on the internet tomorrow. But as things so often go, someone involved in the production apparently couldn’t wait. The trailer has leaked online, and can be viewed in full, albeit not at the greatest of resolutions.
The trailer is … not quite what we were expecting, we have to say. After Guillermo Del Toro and Ron Perlman put an iconic spin on Mike Mignola’s comics character, it’s hard not to expect more of the same in terms of the film’s style and feel, but this Hellboy seems pretty different, even as it adapts some similar comic source material. Most notably is the light, bouncy, comedic feel of the trailer—this Hellboy feels like it’s attempting to emulate the Marevl playbook by making the film a comedy first and foremost, and an action-adventure movie second. I mean really, what other takeaway would we take from the fact that the action is accompanied by Billy Idol’s “Mony Mony”?
The film stars Harbour as Hellboy, real name Anung Un Rama, a demon who was brought to Earth during the second world war as the result of Nazi experiments intended to end the world. Thankfully for humanity, Hellboy is instead adopted by the U.S. Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, and is trained to fight monsters instead of summoning them. Much of the Hellboy comics deal with this innate struggle between the demonic side of Hellboy and his “destiny” to end the world, vs. his attachments to his friends on Earth.
The film also stars Milla Jovovich as Nimue, “The Blood Queen, a medieval British sorceress who seeks to destroy humankind,” and Ian McShane as Hellboy’s adoptive father Trevor. It’s scheduled to hit theaters on April 12, 2019.
The leaked trailer can be viewed here.