Whether you loved the new Hellboy trailer, hated it, or just didn’t know what to think of it, there’s no denying that it wasn’t what a lot of us expected. After months and months of the film being built up as a distinctly darker affair than Guillermo del Toro’s cherished take on the property, the teaser’s series of one-liners set to an ’80s dance pop soundtrack came as a bit of shock to many viewers, while leaving some fans a little nervous about the upcoming reboot.
Nonetheless, actor David Harbour continues to insist that we’re in for something dark and brutal, telling IGN:
“This movie is gory… it’s like a horror movie. There’s a lot of blood in it. It’s brutal.”
The star says one thing while the trailer suggests another, but given Neil Marshall’s track record of acclaimed horror movies like Dog Soldiers and The Descent, maybe this is just a case of misleading marketing.
Regardless, the film is confirmed to have an R-rating, so you can expect it to bring plenty of carnage, even if the tone for the action is so far looking more Deadpool than Blade. What’s more, it seems that the flaming sword witnessed at the end of the trailer will be put to good use, with Harbour teasing that the weapon will leave some burnt corpses:
“I remember showing some friends of mine this trailer, and they said, ‘God, I hope you hack so many people up with that sword of flame.’ If that’s what you want too, you will not be disappointed.”
The new Lionsgate reboot has its work cut out for it trying to fill void left by del Toro and actor Ron Perlman, and so far, the fans seem as skeptical as ever. But with a recent test screening yielding some positive responses, perhaps the doubters can be won over yet by the time Hellboy hits theaters on April 12th, 2019.