By REED TUCKER
Posted: 2:00 am
July 6, 2008
Remember those quaint, innocent days when a superhero with a simple back story (usually involving radiation) would wake up, throw on a colorful, waistline-flattering costume and head out to fight crime because it was the right thing to do? Us neither.
Heroes nowadays are more complicated than Lindsay Lohan's dating life. Hancock is a drunk, Batman is certifiable and the Hulk isn't really a crime fighter at all. And when it comes to anti-heroes, it's hard to top Hellboy. He smokes, he drinks and, sure, he investigates paranormal phenomena, but he also happens to be the beast of the Apocalypse. Top that for angst, Iron Man.
The wisecracking red demon returns Friday in "Hellboy II: The Golden Army," a fantasy-heavy adventure directed by Guillermo del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth") in which Hellboy (Ron Perlman) is tasked to foil an invasion of our world by mythical creatures.
Mike Mignola, who created the character in a 1993 comic book and co-wrote the new movie's story, says he wanted Hellboy to be an atypical hero from the start.
"He's fairly unique in that he's not a superhero," Mignola says. "Superheroes, to me, talk in a superhero language. They have a godlike thing. Look at that versus the way the character in 'Die Hard' spoke, which is 'Oh, man, I'm tired and my feet are cut up.' "
"There's a less heroic way of doing a heroic character, and that was much more appealing to me," he adds. "The joke with Hellboy is that he's this indestructible guy who looks like a devil, but [the challenge is] to write him as a person, to give him these human qualities."
The character didn't catch fire at first. "Hellboy" (2004) made a modest $23 million in its opening weekend, and it wasn't until the film hit DVD and cable that it found its fans.
"The marketing was not great for the first film, but I'm not going to blame it entirely on marketing," Mignola says. "It was a weird film. It was a mostly unknown commodity. The comic was not a huge-selling comic. No one, including Revolution [Studios] and Sony, knew what to do with this thing. I'm amazed that as many people saw it in the theater as they did."
The sell should be easier now that ticket buyers know what the franchise is all about. And if the crowds are large enough, Mignola says he and del Toro would be up for a "3" - though it may be a while. They haven't yet planned a story, and the director is off to direct the "Hobbit" films.
"Every time we'd come up with an idea [for '2'], it just got rolled over to 'Hellboy 3,' " Mignola says. "If Guillermo puts everything he said he wants to put into 'Hellboy 3,' it's going to be 36 hours long."
Best to watch that one on DVD.
