One of the all-time best casting decisions in the history of comic book cinema is Ron Perlman as Hellboy. One of the all-time best filmmaking decisions in the history of comic book cinema is Guillermo del Toro directing Hellboy. In a world where we continue to get numerous underwhelming and forgettable comic book movies, it’s hard to believe we ever got such exciting adventures that were overlooked by audiences at large.
It’s a testament to both Perlman and del Toro’s devotion to the character that, even after the original 2004 movie fell flat with audiences, del Toro used the clout he secured with the Oscar-winning Pan’s Labyrinth that his follow-up project was 2008’s Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Unfortunately, that movie similarly fell short of expectations, seemingly ending the likelihood of their planned trilogy.
Luckily, Perlman is still devoted to del Toro and Hellboy, confirming that, even if the filmmaker doesn’t reach out about the third chapter for another decade, he won’t hesitate to reprise the role.
“I’ve said so much about this and pissed off enough people, but I’ll say it again for you: the original movies were meant to be a trilogy,” Perlman recalled to Deadline. “In Hellboy II, we left off at a very awkward moment where the Liz Sherman character is pregnant with twins, and none of the promises of Hellboy being summoned into existence to destroy the world has been addressed. That would all have been in the third film, and I’ll always advocate for the making of the third film.”
He continued, “I’m not interested in doing any other version of Hellboy other than finishing the trilogy with Guillermo. It would be so epic. Like a Greek epic. Hubris, hamartia, destiny, nature vs nurture, it would be such an adventure. I’m 76 now, and if he comes to me and I’m 86, we’ll still do the motherf-cker.”
As far as whether there have been recent conversations about the third film, now that del Toro has released his Oscar-winning Frankenstein, Perlman confessed, “No comment.”
Proving the inherent potential of the concept, we’ve gotten 2019’s Hellboy reboot, which starred David Harbour, and 2024’s Hellboy: The Crooked Man, which starred Jack Kesy. Even though the Perlman Hellboy films fell short with audiences, the subsequent live-action movies were received even less successfully.
At this point, it’s currently unknown what’s in store for Hellboy’s live-action future.
Would you still like to see Perlman return for a third movie? Let us know in the comments below!
