The new red-band trailer for the Hellboy reboot does a magnificent job of setting the franchise's
new tone, revealing a fun take on Hellboy and the cataclysmic danger in his world and
hinting at some deeper Hellboy lore.
Here's a look at some of the small details you might have missed.
Long live the king
The blazing blade that Hellboy wields in the red band trailer is a little more than just
a cool effect.
It's almost certainly meant to be the mythical blade Excalibur.
Yeah, the one King Arthur carried around.
In The Wild Hunt comic book storyline, it was revealed that not only can Hellboy wield
Excalibur, but he can do so because he is a descendant of King Arthur and the true,
rightful heir of the British Isles.
As far as wild reveals go, this one may be one of the wildest in Hellboy history, so
it's pretty exciting to see this moment being presented on the big screen.
The Wild Hunt
The Osiris Club, a mysterious organization ripped from the pages of Hellboy comic books,
appears in the new trailer on a hunt for giants, astride horseback and decked in some very
Arthurian green and white tabards, led by a knight wearing the head of a stag.
The existence of the Osiris Club in the film tracks with the appearance of the villain
Nimue, played by Milla Jovovich.
It seems like a sure bet that the movie will rely pretty heavily on the comics for plot
details, meaning this new movie will be a treat for longtime Hellboy fans.
Hellboy in Mexico
In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, eagle-eyed viewers may have caught a flash of a giant
bat-like creature standing in a wrestling ring.
Not only is this rad, but it hints a fan-favorite one-shot story, Hellboy in Mexico.
That story details Hellboy getting real with Abe Sapien about one of the strangest and
most difficult times in his life.
While in Mexico in the 1950s, he got in deep with a trio of brothers who also happen to
be luchadors.
These luchadors are more than your average masked wrestlers: they also hunt monsters
because they received a vision from the Virgin Mary.
Hellboy joins them on their quest, which entangles him with ancient Mayan temples and vampire
luchadors.
A sweet epilogue gives readers a glimpse into what life could have been like had Hellboy
stopped hunting monsters, donning a mask and wrestling for the adoration of the crowd.
While we probably won't see the whole tale told in Hellboy, even referencing it, among
other adventures, will help give viewers a deeper understanding of the scope of Hellboy's
long history of beating up monsters since World War II.
"C'mon, let's get your game face on."
"Rrrrr.
Yeah, c’mon!
Let's do this!"
Fear the Baba Yaga
One of the most striking images in the entire trailer is the appearance of a house, conspicuously
trotting along on a pair of slender, spindly chicken legs.
That, as you may or may not know, is home to none other than the Baba Yaga, the notorious
witch of eastern European folklore.
In the Hellboy universe, the Baba Yaga is known to be incredibly powerful.
She's a fearsome witch who's mostly known for dealing in magic that involves spirits
and souls.
She has an army of the undead at her beck and call, which could be pretty interesting
in the film, if they show up.
Punch your soul out
In the new trailer, a woman named Alice appears to be a field agent in the employ of the BPRD.
From most of what's been shown of the movie, there doesn't seem to be anything too quirky
or special about her, that is, until she punches someone so hard their spirit flies out of
them.
There's a chance this could have something to do with the flashy, appropriately BPRD-branded
brass knuckles she sports in the trailer.
There's also a chance that this hints at her comic book roots as a person deeply affected
by and connected to the fae.
In the 1995 Hellboy comic The Corpse, Hellboy must rescue Alice as a baby after she's kidnapped
by the King of the Faeries.
After being saved, one of the faeries reveals to Hellboy that they were going to raise Alice
as their own child because something has gone wrong and faeries are no longer able to have
children.
In 2008's The Wild Hunt, Hellboy meets Alice again and remarks at how young she looks even
though decades have passed, indicating that her time with the fae has somehow altered
her.
Through the effects of Nimue's treachery, Alice essentially becomes the new Queen of
the Fairies and struggles to provide sanctuary for the fae as the world literally goes to
hell.
Movie Alice may not end up having as grand a role as she does in the comics, but this
simple shot from the trailer at least hints at a supernatural connection for the character.
Hell on Earth
It's tough to tell if the giant entity summoned by Nimue is an aspect of the Ogdru Jahad or
not, but it's likely that the pale, skinless-looking beast is meant to be something similar to
the Ogdru Jahad of the Hellboy comics.
The Ogdru Jahad are about as bad as bad guys get.
They represent one thing and one thing only: The End of Everything.
Many of Hellboy's villains have been working to summon The Ogdru Jahad.
In fact, Hellboy's own summoning was the result of an Ogdru Jahad ritual gone wrong.
Whatever the massive entity that's annihilating London in the trailer actually is, it's definitely
linked to the end times.
So much of what is shown in the trailer hints at bad, bad things for our heroes… including
a first date gone wrong.
"This is not gonna work, y'know, because I'm a Capricorn, and you're f---ing nuts!"
Will this new film have everything that fans of the character have been craving since the
last film, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army came out in 2008?
Based on the details in this trailer, chances seem pretty good so far…
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