HELLBOY Creator Mike Mignola Talks Input And Comic Accuracy In The Upcoming Reboot

Many were disheartened and dismayed when the news came that Academy Award Winner Guillermo Del Toro was no longer going to be able to direct the final entry in his Hellboy trilogy, and that instead the studio had opted to reboot the character with a more horror edge from Game of Thrones director Neil Marshall.

Not much is known about the new take on the Dark Horse comic character, but Hellboy creator Mike Mignola is again heavily involved in this cinematic adaptation of Ol' Red. Speaking to EW Mignola has been talking about how his creative process with Marshall and the production on this new film, differed from his time with Del Toro:

“It’s funny, because my involvement has been very different than the Del Toro movies. The difference is I had known Del Toro for six years by the time we did the first movie. Neil I met a couple months before he worked on the movie. It was very different, but I have been involved ever since they said ‘Hey we’re gonna make another Hellboy movie, and we’re gonna do this story.’ I’ve bounced back and forth with them about how to adapt this particular Hellboy story.”

While the first Hellboy film in 2004 felt very much like it existed in Mignola's world, the follow up Hellboy II: The Golden Army had more of the Pan's Labyrinth directors voice and eye behind it, journeying into a more fairytale world as opposed to a darker occult one. This time around, he has a larger hand behind the scenes it seems and we can expect a more comic accurate take:

“At various times I’ve jumped in and been much more active in the screenplay than I ever was on the Del Toro movies. But I did nothing so far as design stuff on the movie. Guillermo wanted me as a concept artist, but on this movie, there were other concept artists. I came in and I looked at some stuff, but they were trying to do something so close to what’s on the comics that they really leaned on what had been done by Duncan [Fegredo] and me in the comics.”

The upcoming reboot originally came with the subtitle Rise of the Blood Queen though that has since been dropped, so it remains to be seen how directly the film will take from the Dark Horse comic but it certainly seems that if nothing else Mignola is excited. We'll have to wait until 2019 when we'll see Stranger Things' David Harbour in the horns to find out.

Do you like what Mignola has been saying? Are you looking forward to seeing the reboot? Would you have rathered Del Toro's Hellboy 3? Leave your thoughts below.