Hellboy: Everything We Know About The Reboot

Hellboy: Everything We Know About The Reboot

DC and Marvel (be it Marvel Studios or projects from 20th Century Fox and Sony) have cornered the superhero movie market, but every now and then there's a project that hails from another company to impress audiences. Last decade, Hellboy left his mark in the earlier years of the comic book movie boom across two movies under the creative vision of Guillermo del Toro, and now the Dark Horse comics character is finally returning to the big screen for a new generation. Like any self-respecting reboot, this new movie is expected to tackle Hellboy much differently compared to its predecessors, and depending on how well it does critically and commercially, it could potentially launch a new series of films. With less than a week to go until Hellboy's release, here's everything we know about it so far.

What Have We Seen From Hellboy?

Luckily, we've had a good look at the action from Hellboy for several months now, including the above red-band trailer which shows off some of the reasons why the film was gifted with an R-rating. The new movie is certainly going for broke when it comes to language and violence, but it still seems to have a focus on humor, which seems to be used to break up the bloody destruction audiences will be in for when they head to theaters.

When Is Hellboy's Release Date?

Rather than face off against other major motion pictures in the summer season or even take its chances in the fall, Hellboy has set up shop in a month that has not been the typical destination for a comic book movie. Hellboy was originally scheduled to be released on January 11, 2019, which would have had it opening a week before M. Night Shyamalan's Glass, which served as a sequel to both 2000's Unbreakable and 2016's Split. And, while a battle between Hellboy and Glass would have been fun to watch, especially considering how well the latter film ended up doing, Hellboy later settled on a spring release date of April 12. But, this has turned out to be its own potential issue.

The week prior to the debut of Hellboy has already seen Shazam! open pretty big and with lots of critical and audience love. So, Hellboy is going to have to fight against that tide on opening weekend, and then battle the big guns a couple of weekends later when what might end up being the biggest movie of all time opens: Avengers: Endgame. Can Hellboy make its mark on the box office? We'll seen soon enough.

What Is Hellboy's Rating?

Technically, Hellboy wasn't officially rated by the MPAA until just a few weeks before it opened, as is standard, but the goal was always for the new movie to rest comfortably in R-rated territory, and it has hit that goal. According to Mike Mignola, the man who created Hellboy, the reason for wanting an R-rating from the jump wasn't because the reboot would necessarily be more violent than the Guillermo del Toro-helmed ones, but because it allows for more creative freedom. Rather than go the fantastical route that its predecessors went, Hellboy wanted to have more of a horror twist, meaning it should feel like a darker movie. With Hellboy gaining that R rating because of "strong bloody violence and gore throughout, and language," according to the MPAA, it sounds like this is a comic book movie that you shouldn't bring the kiddies to see.

The Director

Inheriting the reins left behind by Guillermo del Toro is Neil Marshall, a man who has experience directing both horror and action-packed tales. His movie-making resume includes Dog Soldiers and The Descent, while in the television realm, he's directed on Game of Thrones (one of his episodes earned him an Emmy nomination), Black Sails, Constantine, Hannibal, Timeless and Westworld. He is also an executive producer on Netflix' Lost in Space reboot series. Hellboy is unquestionably Marshall's biggest cinematic endeavor yet, but given his past horror work and how much more intense this reboot will be compared to its predecessors, ideally he's just the right kind of creative mind to bring a fresh perspective to this property. It wouldn't have been wise to hire someone too similar to del Toro, and if all goes well, Marshall will do a good job ensuring that his Hellboy movie can stand on its own.

What Is Hellboy About?

Right off the bat, in case the term "reboot" wasn't a clear enough indicator, Hellboy will not have any ties to the previous movies. It's an all-new cast performing in a story set in an all-new continuity. So, for those of you who waited for years of Guillermo del Toro, Ron Perlman and other key cast and crew members to reunite for Hellboy III, I'm sorry to say that it's not happening. In 2014, Mike Mignola began working with writer Andrew Cosby on what was originally intended to be a sequel to Hellboy II: The Golden Army, but when del Toro was approached to produce it rather than direct, he decided not to be involved at all. That subsequently led to Ron Perlman bowing out, and once Neil Marshall came on board, it was appropriately decided the movie would be a reboot. All this being said, for the longtime Hellboy comic book readers out there, the reboot will be more faithful to the source material.

Inspired by the Darkness Calls, The Wild Hunt and The Storm and the Fury storylines, Hellboy will follow the eponymous protagonist trying to prevent an evil sorceress from destroying humanity. Even though the reboot will have more of a horror hook, a story like this also allows for plenty of fantastical elements to be seeded throughout. Hellboy is a formidable character, and with the aid of his allies at the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD), hopefully they'll be able to ensure that the main antagonist doesn't wipe out our kind. Beyond that, plot details are being kept under wraps, but as we get closer to the new Hellboy movie's release, it will be interesting to learn how this world differs from the one Guillermo del Toro oversaw.

Hellboy

In the comics, Hellboy was a half-human, half-demon (birth mother human, father demon), while in the Guillermo del Toro-directed movies, he was a full demon. Whatever his heritage is in the reboot, no doubt like in the source material and previous movies, he will be drawn to Earth as an infant and be raised to be a force for good. His special abilities include super human strength, enhanced healing and an extended life span. He also has the rock-hard Right Hand of Doom, which in the comics is the key to eventually bringing about the end of the world, and he's quite a good shot with oversized pistols. To better fit in among humans, Hellboy files off his horns, though they've been known to magically grow back every now and then.

Succeeding Ron Perlman as Hellboy is David Harbour, who is best known for playing Chief Jim Hopper on Netflix's hit series Stranger Things. The Hellboy reboot will be Harbour's third superhero movie, after previously appearing in The Green Hornet and Suicide Squad (he also auditioned to play Blob in X-Men Origins: Wolverine). Just like Perlman's Hellboy, Harbour's iteration is an all-practical creation, which required the actor to ditch his trademark dad bod. Harbour also admitted that some of his friends tried to convince him not to take the role.

While no specific details about this version of Hellboy have been revealed yet, Harbour has said that the new movie will offer a more faithful take on the character. Noting that his Hellboy will go through"a lot more struggle, a lot more angst," with some of that being due to the fact that he won't have a love interest, partly because this version of Hellboy can't have sex with humans. The actor has also compared the protagonist's inner turmoil (being an adopted kid from hell who wants to do good despite being destined to bring about the apocalypse) to Hamlet. Whatever Harbour's portrayal of Hellboy will look like, he seems to have a good handle on the character.

Trevor Bruttenholm

Professor Trevor Bruttenholm is the only other character from the previous Hellboy movies who's been announced to appear in the Hellboy reboot, and for good reason. In the comics, "Broom," one of humanity's greatest experts on the occult, was a member of the British Paranormal Society, and later became an adviser to President Franklin Roosevelt when the Allies learned that Hitler was trying to use the occult to his own advantage during World War II. Then on December 23, 1944, while joining a group of U.S. soldiers from preventing Rasputin (yes, that Rasputin), from enacting Project Ragna Rok, a demon child appeared before Broom at the time that Rasputin called upon the Ogdru Jahad, powerful entities who are the main antagonists of the Hellboy mythos. That child was Hellboy, and Broom took a liking to the lad, eventually adopting him after helping to form the BPRD.

The late John Hurt played Trevor Bruttenholm in the previous Hellboy movies, and Ian McShane will take over the role for the reboot. McShane's notable work includes Deadwood, the John Wick movies, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and American Gods. McShane mentioned that Hellboy and Broom's relationship will be "quite crusty" because the former wonders why the latter didn't kill him because he's a monster, but so far that's all we know about Broom in the reboot.

One thing worth noting is that when Hellboy first began publication, and even in the earlier movies, it was plausible for Broom to have been a young man during World War II and still be alive in the present day, but with a reboot being released now, that's harder to pull off. Setting Hellboy in the 1990s (or somewhere in that ballpark) would be a good way around that, but perhaps moving Broom's discovery of Hellboy to the 1960s (or so) would also work. But, since they appear to be setting the action in the modern day, another possibility is that something has mystically kept Broom in better health as he's gotten older.

Nimue

In the Hellboy comics, Nimue (who is also known as the Queen of Blood and the Lady of the Lake) lived during King Arthur's reign and managed to persuade Merlin to share the secrets of magic with her. Nimue then locked the wizard away, but her newfound knowledge drove her mad, and a group of witches decided to cut her into little pieces and scatter her across the world so that she could never reform and threaten Earth. Well, you guessed it, in the present day, Nimue was revived, and she immediately began forming her own army, but she was eventually killed in battle by Hellboy. However, before being dragged to Hell, Nimue managed to rip Hellboy's heart out and drag him to Hell with her.

For Hellboy, Nimue the Blood Queen will be played by Milla Jovovich, who has left her mark in the genre world as Alice in the Resident Evil movies and is also recognizable from The Fifth Element, Zoolander and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. All we've learned so far about the cinematic Nimue is that she still hails from medieval times and wants to destroy humanity. Even though the new Hellboy movie is drawing inspiration from her story arcs from the comics, don't be surprised if it also takes some creative liberties with her.

Ben Daimio

Ben Daimio was introduced to the Hellboy mythos in 2004, the same year the first Guillermo del Toro Hellboy movie came out. Ben was originally the leader of a Marine squad that was sent to rescue a group of nuns who were kidnapped by a terrorist group, but during the rescue attempt the squad was attacked by the true culprits, a murderous jaguar-worshipping cult. A mysterious entity then killed all the Marines, including Daimio. However, three days later, Daimio came back to life, albeit with the left side of his face scarred. Now able to turn into a jaguar-like creature during periods of intense stress, Daimio joined the BPRD

Originally Deadpool's Ed Skrien was supposed to play Ben Daimio in Hellboy, but the casting was met with accusations of whitewashing. A week later, Skrien voluntarily dropped out, and Hawaii 5-0's Daniel Dae Kim was tapped to play Daimio the following month, and this version of the character will still be a BPRD agent who has monstrous transformation problems.

Alice Monaghan

Joining Hellboy and Ben Daimio as mystically-gifted protagonists is Alice Monaghan, a woman of Irish descent who Hellboy rescued from fairies when she was an infant. Decades later, Alice retains some special abilities due to her time with the fairies, and even though she is in her fifties in the present day in the comics, she still looks like a young woman. Alice will be played by American Honey's Sasha Lane in Hellboy. It looks like she will help out as a BPRD agent in the movie, but beyond that we don't know much about her.

Other Characters

Now that we've covered Hellboy's main cast, let's touch on who some of the minor characters will be. Chief among them will be Ganeida, an elder witch who has decided that Nimue's reign of terror has gone on for long enough and needs to be stopped. She will be played by The Vampire Diaries' Penelope Mitchell, and one wonders if her character will be the catalyst to drawing in Hellboy and the BPRD to help battle Nimue. Joining Mitchell's Ganeida are Hotel Rwanda's Sofie Okonedo as Lady Hatton, a seer who resides at the Osiris Club, which is dedicated to solving supernatural mysteries; Rogue One: A Star Wars Story's Alistair Petrie as Lord Adam Glaren, a high-ranking Osiris Club member; and Phantom Thread's Robert Gleeson as Merlin, who, if this reboot is staying true to the comics, will be the man responsible for Nimue becoming so powerful.

Hellboy will be in theaters in just a few days now, so be sure to keep up with this guide for any major reveals that come out before this weekend!

Josh Brolin Just Shared A Ridiculous Story About Getting In Trouble For Spoiling Dune

Josh Brolin Just Shared A Ridiculous Story About Getting In Trouble For Spoiling Dune

Nobody likes to have a movie spoiled for them before it comes out, but studios have become incredibly afraid of details of new movies being leaked early on. While this is certainly understandable, it's possible it's all getting slightly out of hand, as Josh Brolin recently got in trouble for "spoiling" some details about the shooting location for the new version of Dune. He let people know he was in the desert.

Josh Brolin recently appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live as part of the promotion of Avengers: Endgame but talk eventually shifted to one of Brolin's upcoming movies, Denis Villenueve's remake of Dune. During one of Brolin's off days from the production, he posted some video of himself in Jordan, enjoying the impressive and vast desert scenery...

So, I was in Jordan and we were in the sand and I was on a little vacation, I had a few days off. I went around… anyway, I put it on my Stories and I had never done that before. I was apparently bored even though it was kind of historically amazing. So I was filming myself—which I don’t understand. I was in the middle of nowhere and there was internet! That was the first weird thing.

The clip in question appears to be the one below, which Josh Brolin filmed from the back of a camel.

While the video seems pretty innocuous, apparently it upset some people at the studio. Josh Brolin tells Jimmy Kimmel that he then got a call telling him that he was violating social media guidelines by revealing information about where Dune was filming, something which struck him as odd considering the movie is called Dune. According to Brolin...

Then I did this whole Story on it and then someone called me eventually and they said, ‘Hey listen, we have guidelines.’ That’s a word I don’t deal with very well. They said, ‘We have guidelines, there’s been some red flags. So, I had a conversation; I just didn’t deal with it very well. It was like, Jason Momoa doing Aquaman and telling him when he’s off he can’t take a picture of himself in water anywhere else. I was like, ‘It’s sand! It’s called Dune. Everybody knows.'

It's completely understandable that studios would want to keep details of movies secret. There's a feeling, regardless of how true, that if people know too much about a movie before it comes out they're less likely to see it. Of course, in the case of Dune, there's an entire novel that will basically give away the whole story right now.

On top of that, It's not like Josh Brolin was taking pictures of the actual set. He took pictures of sand. As he says, it's in the title, nobody should be all that shocked.

Brolin then took to Instagram again following his conversation and shared more pictures of sand. This might be the part where he says he didn't deal with it very well. He's clearly angry about the whole thing.

It does seem like getting mad at Josh Brolin for pictures of sand was more than a little over the top. Dune is one of those stories that one would think most people have a basic understanding of even if they've never read the book or seen the David Lynch movie. Knowing that the movie filmed in Jordan doesn't really tell anybody anything by itself.

Having social media guidelines is great, but implementing them with some logic wouldn't hurt. Even if Brolin technically violated them, this seems like the sort of thing you can just let go. Also, he's Josh Brolin.

Check out Josh Brolin's complete comments on Jimmy Kimmel Live in the clip below.

Denis Villenueve's Dune, which will follow the first half of the original Frank Herbert novel, is set for release in November 2020.

Spoiler Alert? Why Spider-Man: Far From Home Is Opening Four Days Early In China

Spoiler Alert? Why Spider-Man: Far From Home Is Opening Four Days Early In China

Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, Spidey’s back and this time he’ll be venturing outside his Queens neighborhood to go on a summer vacation in Europe with his fellow classmates. The Spider-Man sequel will also now be opening “far from home” first as well, as China’s release date is now set for June 28.

This is great news for the Middle Kingdom, which had to wait two months longer than the rest of the world to see 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming. Tread lightly folks, this also means that spoiler-y online discourse about the movie could begin almost a week before North American audiences grab their seats and popcorn to enjoy Far From Home.

The movie is following in the monumental footsteps of Avengers: Endgame, which opened in China two days early before earning over $614 million in the foreign market so far. According to Deadline, the upcoming Spider-Man flick is debuting ahead of the U.S, and Canada to avoid opening next to Chinese war epic The Eight Hundred and The Secret Life of Pets 2 on July 5, and before the country’s annual “Hollywood Blackout."

In order to give local titles a boost at the box office in the summer months, China has an annual unofficial ban on foreign films. Last time, this stopped Spider-Man: Homecoming from getting a shot at a summer release in China. Far From Home will give audiences a week head start for the title to shoot out some big opening numbers for the MCU entry before the blackout starts.

China is certainly the highest foreign earner for the Spider-Man franchise. Homecoming made $116 million in the country out of the film’s $880 worldwide haul. There’s extra eyes on Far From Home, since it follows Marvel’s biggest success with Avengers: Endgame.

The blockbuster is the official end to MCU’s Phase 3 and the “Infinity Saga” and will answer questions about the fallout of Endgame and what’s next for the franchise. What about that plot hole that even got the Far From Home stars confused about the time jump?

Audiences in China spent $614 million on Endgame tickets so they’ll want to know how Far From Home plays out. Plus, avoiding spoilers for a week will be easier on us than it would be for them to avoid spoilers for two months.

Spider-Man: Far From Home will see Peter Parker enjoying a fun European vacation with his friends before Nick Fury decides to crash it and ask for his help in taking down the Elementals. Spidey will team up with Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio, who is a “good guy” version of the villain from the Multiverse.

The movie is looking at a $120 million opening weekend in U.S. and Canada after breaking a trailer record for Sony. Far From Home swings into theaters domestically on July 2.

Avengers: Endgame Marketing Puts Hawkeye Next To Urinals, And Jeremy Renner Is Having A Field Day

Avengers: Endgame Marketing Puts Hawkeye Next To Urinals, And Jeremy Renner Is Having A Field Day

The marketing for Avengers: Infinity War was a game of ‘Where’s Hawkeye?’ with us constantly looking for the team’s resident archer and him nowhere to be found. That is not the case with Avengers: Endgame, as Clint Barton is back in action with bow and sword in the trailers for the year’s biggest movie. He’s not just in the trailers though, the marketing for the film has also put Hawkeye in a very unexpected place: next to a urinal. And naturally, Jeremy Renner is having a field day with it. Take a look:

Jeremy Renner is right, marketing is different in Europe. But wow, this is something else entirely,and it's both weird and hilarious. Instead of having a poster for the film above the urinal for you to look at as you do your business, Europe apparently has Hawkeye with his eyes trained like a hawk on the urinal and accordingly, on you-- the user of said urinal.

I can’t imagine that Jeremy Renner knew or could have guessed when he signed his Marvel contract that his likeness would one day be intently watching European men as they peed, but here we are and the actor seems to find the whole situation quite amusing. Never known as the quippiest Avenger in the films, Jeremy Renner delivers the funny here in his Instagram post, with the punny hashtag #euro-peein’.

This is awfully powerful marketing on the part of Avengers: Endgame. And weird, let’s not forget weird. You can’t change the channel or press mute, it’s right there, staring at you, catching you off guard with your pants literally down. Dread it, run from it, Hawkeye cannot be ignored, not unless you decide to go to a stall or hold it.

It’s as if Hawkeye, an expert marksman, is staring to intimidate you into aiming properly at the urinal, critiquing your accuracy with harsh judgment. An archer judging your aim, I guess this is what they mean when they talk about targeted marketing. I would love to hear the conversation and genesis of this from inception to execution.

In addition to a hashtag putting forth the obvious WTF question, Jeremy Renner promises that he isn’t looking at you as you pee. It certainly looks like he is though and not everyone has the Infinity Stones to perform under this kind of pressure, among them, Jeremy Renner’s MCU co-star, Star-Lord himself, Chris Pratt. The actor commented on Instagram, saying:

Dud…e I would get REAL bladder shy of Hawkeye was staring at my Hogeye.

You had to know that Chris Pratt would have something to say if he got wind of this and he gave a hilarious Andy Dwyer-esque response if ever there was one. Star-Lord has already proven himself to have some difficulties reacting prematurely and now you can add performance anxiety to the Guardian of the Galaxy’s many faults.

Indeed I expect some might experience a bit of stage fright with Hawkeye watching them pee, but whether you hit your mark or not, you leave that bathroom thinking about Avengers: Endgame.

I’m curious if Hawkeye is the only Avenger who gets the European bathroom advertisement treatment or if other characters have urinal adjacent posters as well. And if only Hawkeye gets them, is that an insult or a compliment? Given the gross viral theory about how Ant-Man will defeat Thanos, it might be a real missed opportunity if there aren't posters of a tiny Ant-Man in bathroom stalls.

Make sure your bladder is feeling confident in its abilities before you head off to see the potentially 3 hour Avengers: Endgame, opening April 26. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to keep track of this year’s biggest movies.

Disney Brought Avengers: Endgame To Troops In The Middle East Thanks To Viral Tweet

Disney Brought Avengers: Endgame To Troops In The Middle East Thanks To Viral Tweet

While Avengers: Endgame is pretty much the box office king at this current time, and it feels like a lot of people have seen it at least once, we must remember that not everyone gets to see Joe and Anthony Russo’s comic book opus at the same time. This is especially true when it comes to those men and women who are deployed overseas, in the enduring effort of protecting the world and our nation. But for those who were lucky enough to attend, there were several screenings of Avengers: Endgame brought to troops in the Middle East, as a viral tweet from a military spouse sent the right message to Disney CEO Bob Iger.

Kat Lancaster, wife to Air Force Major Joshua Lee Lancaster, was the person to spur this all on. Starting with a simple tweet, asking the Disney CEO if there was any chance of bringing Avengers: Endgame to the troops, this lead to Iger not only promising to check on the possibility of bringing the film to bases in Afghanistan and Al Udeid, but eventually delivering on said promise.

Bagram Air Base and Al Udeid Air Base were then allowed to host several showings of Avengers: Endgame for soldiers stationed in those areas. And it was all thanks to the efforts of a wife who missed her husband so much, she wanted to share a huge cultural moment with him and his colleagues.

Of course, in true Disney fashion, Stars and Stripes reported that the hard drive carrying the $1 billion+ grossing blockbuster to our men and women in the military was guarded in transit, and required an encryption key to activate. Once everything was set up though, the fun could begin, and in the case of Bagram Air Field, the film was actually shown eight times.

For those of you keeping score, that’s basically a whole entire day’s worth of Avengers: Endgame screenings, clocking in at approximately 24 hours and 16 minutes. Which is comforting to know, as if the civilian population could find themselves offered such a convenience on our home soil, it’s nice to know that for one day out of their lives, military personnel could feel like they were back home again.

Sending a theatrical experience as fantastic as Avengers: Endgame to the troops in the Middle East is a real good guy move on the part of Bob Iger and The Walt Disney Company, and it’s something that even Captain America could fully support. And while these sorts of screenings do tend to happen from time to time, it’ll be nice to see if Disney is already in talks to make sure that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker gets that same treatment come Christmas time.

Avengers: Endgame is in theaters now, and we salute Kat Lancaster in her effort to bring some normalcy and entertainment to our men and women serving abroad.

Michelle Rodriguez Reportedly Returning For Fast And Furious 9 After Female Writer Is Hired

Michelle Rodriguez Reportedly Returning For Fast And Furious 9 After Female Writer Is Hired

Michelle Rodriguez’s Letty is one of the pillars of the family at the heart of the Fast and Furious franchise, having appeared in five of the films, including the original and 2018’s The Fate of the Furious. But the actress’s time with the franchise looked like it may be running out of gas, based on comments she made about possibly sitting out the next film.

Now that crisis looks to have been averted and Michelle Rodriguez is reportedly returning for Fast & Furious 9. According to Bloomberg, the actress’s return comes after she secured an agreement for a female writer to join the production. There is no word as of yet about whom the female writer joining the franchise’s ninth installment will be, but there will be a female voice contributing to Fast & Furious 9.

After the release of The Fate of the Furious, Michelle Rodriguez expressed a desire for the franchise to start showing more love to its female characters, otherwise she might not return. She later elaborated about her concerns, speaking about her desire to champion female empowerment and the stagnant nature of the Fast & Furious franchise in that regard.

Expressing a desire for the action films to evolve, she cited the fact that the female characters in the films almost never talk to each other in the Fast & Furious movies as one example of the franchise’s problems in this area. While the male characters have real conversations and relationships, Michelle Rodriguez has spent very little time over the course of the series with the other actresses.

So by asking for the next Fast & Furious movie to show more love to women, she wanted to see female characters handled more deftly and with more substance. She also wanted for the women to actually talk to one another in meaningful ways and have real relationships.

Michelle Rodriguez was never adamant that she wouldn’t return, saying that she would wait to see the script and that she expected Vin Diesel to convince her. But she definitely wanted a female voice to be involved to help address her concerns and evolve the franchise. And it seems she got her wish.

The takes no crap actress believes that a movie on the scale of the Fast & Furious franchise has a responsibility to affect positive change, and she used her clout to do just that. Now the franchise can evolve the way she wanted, and hopefully have even better stories and character development and Fast & Furious 9 gets Michelle Rodriguez back as Letty. So it’s a win-win all around.

Alongside Michelle Rodriguez, another original cast member of The Fast and the Furious, Jordana Brewster is returning as Mia Toretto for Fast & Furious 9. Maybe those two franchise OG’s will get some good stuff to do together thanks to this new female writer being brought aboard.

There was also news earlier this year that the franchise has a female-led spinoff in development with three female writers brought aboard to pen it. Perhaps one of those three, Nicole Perlman, Lindsey Beer or Geneva Robertson-Dworet, are the writer helping out with Fast 9.

Fast & Furious 9 doesn’t arrive until May 22, 2020, but you don’t have to wait that long to see the next movie in the high-octane franchise. The first spinoff film, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, races into theaters on August 2. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to keep track of that and all the summer’s biggest movies.

What Shazam! Gets Right About The Emotions Of Foster Children

What Shazam! Gets Right About The Emotions Of Foster Children

Warning! The following contains SPOILERS for Shazam! Read at your own risk.

There's a lot to love about Shazam!, but amongst all the praise for its humor and action, there's one thing I loved about the DC movie above all else that isn't getting a lot of attention. Foster children play a huge part in Shazam!, and the way the film handles each child and the emotions they cope with is a supremely underrated thing this story should be getting more praise for.

I say this as a foster parent who has experienced firsthand and heard several stories from others about how harrowing the foster process can be. Much like Billy and the rest of the siblings, these kids are faced with tough situations very early in life that affects them in entirely different ways. No two kids are alike, and Shazam! shows audiences some of the various ways these kids are shaped in a way that mainstream media doesn't often show.

Take Billy, for example, who has spent a majority of his time in foster homes and running away in hopes of finding his birth mother. Billy is so convinced his mother has no way of finding him that he's leaving good and safe homes (which is not always a guarantee) and ignoring the case worker who suggests the reason she hasn't found him yet is because she's not looking.

What's most important in Shazam! is that it's explicitly clear to the audience why Billy does the things he does. He's not a foster kid acting out because he's ungrateful, misguided or a troublemaker. He legitimately believes his living situations are temporary, and that things will be alright once he finds his mother.

Of course, that's not always the case in foster care, and Billy eventually learns that his mother intentionally left him with the police because she believed he'd be better off without her. She also doesn't think it's a good time to reconnect, and it's more or less implied that she's in no rush to start a relationship with the young hero despite his efforts to find her.

What's important about this arc is that there's an acknowledgement that none of what happened is Billy's fault, which is a message all foster children need to hear regardless of their situation. Billy was affected by his mother's actions, but at the end of the day, she's the one to blame for their separation. Even if the situations aren't the same, any foster child can walk away from this film feeling that their circumstance isn't their own doing.

Another big thing Shazam! gets right about foster kids' emotions is the wide range of ways a child can react to their situation. Each of the kids ended up in the system some way, and each have been shaped by the experience and are coping with it in their own way. One scene in particular that sticks out is Darla's immediate attachment to Billy, and how quick she goes into referring to him as her brother.

The scene gets a big emotional payoff later when Billy tells Darla she doesn't have to call him 'brother,' as they aren't technically a family. Darla is immediately crushed by the statement, and it's the one scene in Shazam! where she could be described as sad. Billy tries to explain to Freddy he didn't mean it to upset her, and Freddy waves him off in an understanding manner while tending to Darla.

It's become one of my favorite scenes of the film because it shows Freddy immediately understands both sides and that no one is at fault. Freddy gets Billy's newcomer status in the family, and the fact that he still has reservations about getting so close to a group of strangers. He also understands Darla's position, and why someone rejecting her offer of inclusion into their foster family is devastating to her.

Freddy has his own problems, as he confesses later to Billy that he's absolutely jealous of his superpowers. Freddy, like most children, just wants to be seen and acknowledged for something other than what he is. No one at the school gives him a lot of acknowledgement, and the ones that do are bullies who frequently tease him for his disability and foster kid status.

Then there's Pedro, Mary and Eugene, who collectively represent another big part of foster kids and Shazam! Mary and Eugene are bright, while Pedro's math test implies he struggles in school. Their personalities are vastly different from each other, and they all seem to have been shaped differently by their varied upbringings.

Someone reading this may think "Well, they're just being portrayed like children," and that's the point. Too often does mass media portray career criminals as "foster children that bounced from home to home" or emotionally fragile kids when there's really not one box to contain them. That's not to say there aren't children who come out of foster care and become two of those prior stereotypes, but there are plenty of children who come out just like the Shazam Family.

These kids are positive role models for a group that, more often than not, is going through things the average child doesn't and shouldn't experience. Many won't complain because it's all they've known, or because they feel uncomfortable doing so in a situation where no one is entirely sure what the future holds for them.

Shazam! can be a great asset to foster families in helping kids and teens in the system tap into those complex feelings, and perhaps serve as a conversation starter into some deeper topics. It's also just a great film that can reinforce to a child in the system that they are special, and that their situation doesn't mean they're destined to become any one thing.

It's why I'm hoping that while the ending of Shazam! established Billy as a part of the Vasquez's foster family, themes relating to foster care continue in Shazam! 2. While Billy's mother didn't seem to want anything to do with him, it would be cool if they had some form of relationship down the road, however complicated that may be. There's also Billy's father who is in prison, so something could be done with him down the road as well.

Shazam! is in theaters and is doing quite well according to the first week numbers at the box office. For more on the film, check out the questions we had following the film's conclusion, and be sure to stick with CinemaBlend for the latest updates on movies, television, and pop culture.