A year ago, David Harbour’s Hellboy reboot memorably opened to scathing reviews and dismal box office numbers, leaving the character’s big-screen future in question. However, it wasn’t long before Harbour landed a role in Marvel’s Black Widow and a new season of Stranger Things reignited the love for his Jim Hopper persona. He even joked about Hellboy’s shortcomings while hosting Saturday Night Live last fall. But apparently, Harbour has more to say about why he thinks the film tanked last spring.
Via Heroic Hollywood, Harbour recently chose to spend some of his COVID-19-induced isolation by launching an Instagram livestream. When Hellboy came up, Harbour theorized that the lingering fandom surrounding Gullermo del Toro’s two films featuring the character kept fans from enjoying this new version.
RELATED: First Look At Abe Sapien Action Figure From 1000Toys’ Hellboy Line
“I think it failed before we began shooting,” said Harbour. “Because I think that people didn’t want us to make the movie and for some reason there was like a big… Guillermo del Toro and Ron Perlman created this iconic thing that we thought could be reinvented and then they certainly – the loudness of the internet was like, ‘We do not want you to touch this.’ And then we made a movie that I think is fun and I think had its problems but was a fun movie and then people were just very very against it, and that’s people’s right, but I learned my lesson in a lot of different ways.”
Harbour may have a point that several fans would have preferred a del Toro-helmed Hellboy 3 to a full reboot. Regardless, it seems highly unlikely that this is what caused the film’s lackluster critical and financial reception. This also isn’t the first time that Harbour has blamed Hellboy’s failure on another, more well-received comic book franchise. Last summer, Harbour suggested that Marvel’s dominance over the superhero genre kept moviegoers from trying something new. Surprisingly, this was after he was drafted to play Red Guardian in Black Widow.
Do you agree with David Harbour’s comments about the Hellboy reboot? Let us know in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Hellboy Omnibus Volume 3: The Wild Hunt
