Summary
- The Crooked Man villain in Hellboy looks just as terrifying as in the comics – true to his creepy roots.
- This adaptation stays faithful to the source material, promising the most comic book-accurate Hellboy yet.
- The trailer confirms what fans hoped for – Hellboy: The Crooked Man promises a horror-filled, genre-defining experience.
A new trailer for Hellboy: The Crooked Man dropped during San Diego Comic-Con, and it confirms the best thing about the movie teased in the first trailer wasn’t just a fluke. The Hellboy: The Crooked Man trailer revealed the titular villain – at least a few glimpses of him – for the first time, and it’s a promising first look. Further, an exclusive Screen Rant SDCC 2024 Hellboy: The Crooked Man clip reveals just how horror-tinged the movie will be – it will be firmly planted in the genre, and not merely incorporate some horror-fantasy elements like the previous movies.
Not much is known yet about Hellboy: The Crooked Man‘s story, but what is known is that it’s set in rural 1950s Appalachia. Hellboy and a rookie BPRD agent, Bobbie Jo Song, get stranded in the village, but soon find themselves caught up in terrifying events as something sinister torments the villagers. All that’s known is that they’re led by a malevolent entity known only as the Crooked Man to the locals. Hellboy and Bobbie Jo have to figure out the occult mystery behind the Crooked Man and break his hold on the village. It’s a very different story from any other Hellboy adaptation, and that’s exactly why it’s so promising.
The Crooked Man Villain Is Comic Book Accurate
He’s A Genuinely Terrifying Character
Granted, there are only a few brief glimpses in the Hellboy: The Crooked Man trailer of the Crooked Man himself, but what they do show is very close to how he’s depicted in the comics. The trailer depicts The Crooked Man, a.k.a. Jeremiah Witkins, as being tall and gangly, with a rumpled stovepipe hat, scraggly beard, and hints of a deeply unsettling face. He is by far the most terrifying villain of the Hellboy movies to date.
That terrifying visage is true to the comics. In the pages, Jeremiah Witkins is depicted in a similar human-but-not-quite sort of way. He has the same hat and scraggly beard, his face is a corpse-like pale gray and gnarled, as are his teeth, and he has one milky white eye. In the comics, Jeremiah Witkins was one of the first settlers of Appalachia and amassed a fortune through dirty dealings and cruelty. He was eventually hanged, but the Devil was so impressed with his work on Earth that he resurrected Witkins as a demon to collect souls for Hell. He’s a genuinely terrifying character and the movie is staying true to that.
It Confirms What The First Hellboy: The Crooked Man Trailer Teased
The Crooked Man Adaptation Is The Most Faithful To The Hellboy Comics Yet
The first glimpse of the Crooked Man proves what the first teaser trailer suggested: Hellboy: The Crooked Man will be the most comic book-accurate adaptation of Hellboy yet. Creator Mike Mignola’s script and heavy involvement always hinted at good things, but its faithfulness to the source material is undeniable after the SDCC trailer. Hellboy has always been a character who, at his core, is steeped in horror, the occult, the eldritch, and religious terror. While Guillermo del Toro’s adaptations are beloved for a reason, and 2019 reboot was better than anticipated, Hellboy: The Crooked Man might be the best of the adaptations thanks to its reverence for the comics.
Hellboy: The Crooked Man
Hellboy ventures into the Appalachian Mountains alongside a novice BPRD agent to confront a demonic entity known as the Crooked Man. As they uncover dark secrets and face supernatural horrors, they must prevent an ancient evil from rising and wreaking havoc on the world.
- Director
- Brian Taylor
- Release Date
- September 19, 2024
- Cast
- Jack Kesy , Jefferson White , Martin Bassindale , Adeline Rudolph , Leah McNamara , Hannah Morgetson , Joseph Marcell , Nathan Cooper
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