A good reboot should have enough distinguishing features from its predecessors that it feels like a fresh take on the material rather than a copy of what came before. Hellboy is accomplishing this by featuring an almost entirely different cast of characters, which includes the main antagonist, Nimue the Blood Queen, played by Milla Jovovich. Although audiences are meant to root for Hellboy and his allies at the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD) to defeat Nimue, Jovovich can actually sympathize with her character. In her words:
It was incredible to be a part of that franchise and it was really fun filming it. My character is very witchy, but also she’s very cool and very sweet, and I don’t understand why everyone’s trying to kill her. It’s really too bad.
Millar Jovovich (jokingly) defended her position while speaking with Kevin Smith in her IMDB interview by saying that Nimue the Blood Queen is just trying to bring the human world and monster world together, which apparently a lot of folks aren’t keen about. Maybe if we didn’t know going into Hellboy that Nimue is the primary villain, we might share that sentiment for a bit, but alas, in this story, she’s on the wrong side of things.
In theory, it’d be nice if the human world and monster world could be brought together so its inhabitants could coexist peacefully. There are just two problems with that idea. One, most monsters aren’t as fond of humans as Hellboy is. Many of them, in fact, want to wreak chaos and destruction on Earth, hence why the BPRD exists. Two, if she’s anything like her comic book counterpart, then Jovovich’s Nimue implementing her plans will result in a lot of people dying. So yeah, it’s a good thing that Big Red and the BPRD gang are interfering with her schemes.
Still, at least Hellboy is another opportunity for Milla Jovovich to jump back in the action realm. She’s arguably best known for playing Alice in the Resident Evil film series, which wrapped up in 2016. Her other prominent credits include The Fifth Element, The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc and Zoolander. She’s also starring in the upcoming Monster Hunter.
The Hellboy reboot is inspired by the comic book storylines Darkness Calls, The Wild Hunt, and The Storm and the Fury, with Nimue having appeared in the latter two. Along with Milla Jovovich, the reboot stars David Harbour as Hellboy, Ian McShane as Trevor Bruttenholm, Sasha Lane as Alice Monaghan and Daniel Dae Kim as Ben Daimio. The Descent’s Neil Marshall directed and Andrew Cosby wrote the script.
Hellboy hits theaters on April 12, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for continuing coverage. For now, browse through our 2019 release schedule to learn what else is coming out this year.
