“These movies have been of a certain brand. With Deadpool and Logan, they are trying to do different things. So we are trying to do our own brand of that. I was really excited by that concept — to make a real monster movie that’s dark and scary and about the end of the world.”

While del Toro's Hellboy films didn't have any shortage of monsters, clearly Mignola, Marshall, Cosby and Harbour are taking a much different tact with the 2018 reboot. The R rating will certainly open up a new realm of possibilities to explore some darker and grittier themes, and the playful tone that helped define del Toro and Perlman's films appears to be a distant memory. Also adding to the intrigue is Harbour's discussion about the Hellboy film with Screen Rant at San Diego Comic-Con, where he said the film was a character piece and the model for it was Shakespeare, noting, "it’s very much like Hamlet in a certain way." 

Fans will find out just how heavy Harbour's Right Hand of Doom will be in a little over a year when the film finally hits theaters. But for the time being, the prospects for the Hellboy reboot sound promising, and for the lack of better words, monstrously entertaining.

NEXT: Is Shape of Water del Toro’s Secret Hellboy Prequel?

Source: Variety