Despite its depressing lack of Ron Perlman (or Guillermo del Toro, for that matter), the planned Hellboy reboot, “Rise of the Blood Queen,” is trudging forward. It’s planned to start filming later this month, primarily in England and Bulgaria.
We already knew the major casting details: David Harbour is Hellboy; Ian McShane is Professor Broome; Sasha Lane is Alice Monaghan; Penelope Mitchell is Ganeida; and genre veteran Milla Jovovich is Nimue, the titular Blood Queen.
Now, thanks to the website My Entertainment World, we know some plot details. Their description states:
The film shows us Hellboy traveling to England, where he must defeat Nimue, Merlin’s consort and the Blood Queen. But their battle will bring about the end of the world, a fate our hero desperately tries to escape.
Yeah, it’s that pesky end of the world again. Hopefully, it will be a bit more original than it sounds. The site goes on to list the film’s genre as a mashup of action, adventure, fantasy, sci-fi, and thriller. It’s scheduled to release next year, and will be directed by Neil Marshall.
The film recently made headlines when actor Ed Skrein left the movie over ‘whitewashing’ concerns:
“It is clear that representing this character in a culturally accurate way holds significance for people, and that to neglect this responsibility would continue a worrying tendency to obscure ethnic minority stories and voice in the Arts. I feel it is important to honour and respect that. There I have decided to step down so the role can be cast appropriately,” the actor wrote in a statement. “Representation of ethnic diversity is important, especially to me as I have a mixed heritage family. It is our responsibility to make more decisions in difficult times and to give voice to inclusivity. It is my hope that one day these discussions will become less necessary and that we can help make equal representation in the Arts a reality.”
Does any of this new information assuage your concerns about the film, or are you still prepared for disappointment? Tell us in the comments below!