Chris Pratt Is ‘Really Proud’ Of Disney For Rehiring James Gunn

Chris Pratt Is ‘Really Proud’ Of Disney For Rehiring James Gunn

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been on a serious roll in Phase Three, as every single blockbuster has been a critical and box office hit. The last decade of filmmaking will come to a head when Avengers: Endgame arrives in theaters, and the reviews and early reception are overwhelmingly positive. As the current phase of movies comes to a close we must look to the future, including James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

The Guardians threequel was originally set to be one of the first installments in Marvel's Phase Four. But James Gunn was fired this past July, after controversial tweets from a decade ago resurfaced and Disney attempted to distance itself from the writer/director. The House of Mouse recently did an about-face, signing Gunn back on to complete Guardians 3 following his DC debut, The Suicide Squad. Chris Pratt recently responded to Gunn's reinstatement, saying:

I was so thrilled, so excited. I think it’s the right move, I really stand behind it. I’m really proud of Disney for hiring James back and ultimately thrilled for not only us, but also for the fans. I think it’s going to wrap up the trilogy in the best way.

Despite originally not wanting to audition for Star-Lord, it looks like Chris Pratt couldn't imagine Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 without the full crew. This obviously includes James Gunn, who puts everything from his music taste, to his dance moves, to his sense of humor into the beloved Marvel franchise.

Chris Pratt's comments to People echoes the the sentiments of most Marvel fans. The Guardians of the Galaxy franchise is arguably the MCU's most director-driven property, and the threequel seemed all but impossible without James Gunn's perspective. What's more, he had completed a draft of Guardians 3's script shortly before being fired, and that script was necessary in order to keep the story and maintain the cast.

Of course, Star-Lord's support of James Gunn shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Shortly after his departure, the Guardians of the Galaxy cast penned a letter in support of the director, signed by the all the starring actors. This includes Chris Pratt, who kept the secret of Gunn's pending reinstatement as he took questions about the Marvel drama.

Related: Sean Gunn Explains Why Brother James Wasn’t At The Avengers: Endgame Premiere

There were a number of months between James Gunn's firing and reinstatement, with production on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 put on indefinite hold following his departure. This opened Gunn open to take on projects like The Suicide Squad, so it's unclear exactly when the Guardians threequel will arrive in theaters. But hopefully those answers will come once Marvel revealed its post-Endgame plans.

Despite fading to dust in Avengers: Infinity War's horrifying twist ending, Chris Pratt's Star-Lord is expected to (somehow) appear in Avengers: Endgame when it hits theaters on April 26th. In the meantime, fill out CinemaBlend's Endgame death pool, and check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

How Dennis Quaid Got The Dogs’ Attention On The Set of A Dog’s Journey

How Dennis Quaid Got The Dogs’ Attention On The Set of A Dog’s Journey

The story in the Dog's movies center on a pooch who finds his way back to his owner across a number lifetimes as different dogs. It will soon continue with A Dog’s Journey, which will pick up with Dennis Quaid’s character, who is now a grandfather.

Since the film will follow a new generation of Bailey’s reincarnations, Dennis Quaid is one of the few threads that bind the pair of movies together and it sure showed on set when he’d work with the puppers. When Iwe recently sat down with Quaid and Marg Helgenberger, who plays Ethan’s wife Hannah in the flick, she shared a bit of the actor’s claim to fame. Check it out in their words:

Marg: Dennis just knew how to work with dogs. The way he put food on his face to get the dogs to react or be on his shoulder on a certain spot.

Dennis: You look like a dog whisperer when you do stuff like that.

Marg: Yeah, you seem like a real trainer. I was impressed.

Dennis: Yeah, well, I'm the one who was trained.

Ah yes, food! That’s definitely the ticket to get in with the dogs!! As Marg explained, Dennis would place some on his face to get the animal actors to react to him on camera or do specific tricks, and it looks like it worked. He of course has had some experience on the prior film, while she was stepping onto the saga for the first time with A Dog’s Journey. The actress played Hannah for the sequel, replacing Peggy Lipton, who passed away a few days ago of colon cancer at the age of 72.

Dennis Quaid isn’t only a skilled dog whisperer of sorts, he’s a lover of man’s best friend. In our interview, he elaborated about why they’ve been an important element of his life. Here’s what he said:

I’ve always had dogs, all my life, and I need them around. They chew me out and look at me like: ‘What’s the problem?’ They are always there for you, they’re your best friend, they don’t judge you and they’re always ready to go.

Isn’t that the truth! Dennis Quaid is certainly passionate about puppers and having them there to keep him in check is one of the many reasons why. You can imagine how great of an acting partner a dog is with all those traits above their paws. Check out the pair talk during the exclusive interview below :

A Dog’s Journey comes a few months after the release of A Dog’s Way Home, which may not be directly connected storywise, but shares the same roots – they’re both based on novels and scripts by W. Bruce Cameron. This film centers on Ethan’s granddaughter CJ as she must grow up apart from them, but has a protector in Bailey as his reincarnations continually bring him back to her.

The film opens this Friday, May 17 alongside John Wick 3 and The Sun is Also A Star. Will you be checking out the touching tale this weekend? Let us know your thoughts below.

New Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Video Pokes Fun At Ghidorah’s Name

New Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Video Pokes Fun At Ghidorah’s Name

If you thought 2014’s Godzilla and 2017’s Kong: Skull Island were crazy, Godzilla: King of the Monsters is kicking things up several notches on the chaos scale. This latest MonsterVerse entry is introducing three new monsters (that we know of), including the three-headed King Ghidorah. While Ghidroah is arguably the most dangerous of Godzilla’s new foes, a new preview for King of the Monsters takes some shots at the beast’s unusual name.

T here’s no question that King Ghidorah is a towering monstrosity and looking to be the biggest threat the MonsterVerse has introduced yet, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it has a weird name. This Godzilla: King of the Monsters TV spot highlights that when one of the characters asks about its “catchy name.” Kyle Chandler’s Mark Russell doesn’t understand it right away and Thomas Middleditch’s Sam Coleman notes how the name sounds like ‘Gonorrhea.’ They’d better hope that Ghidorah doesn’t have enhanced hearing on top of its many other abilities.

Weird name aside, King Ghidorah is shaping up to be the biggest threat in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which is saying a lot given how much destruction we’ve seen in the footage shown so far. Ghidorah is joined by Rodan and Mothra, though it should be noted that the latter is usually depicted as a benevolent creature in the Toho monster movies from Japan, so perhaps it won’t be giving humanity too much trouble. Regardless, in keeping with the monster’s numerous appearance in the Toho movies over the decades, King of the Monsters’ King Ghidorah is described as Godzilla’s arch-nemesis, so it’s a good bet that the sequel’s climactic confrontation will be between these two.

Picking up five years after the events of Godzilla with the entire world now knowing about the existence of the Titans, Godzilla: King of the Monsters sees Monarch crossing paths with all of these monsters as they vie for supremacy and put humanity’s very existence at stake. We can at least take comfort knowing that Earth won’t be destroyed since Godzilla vs. Kong arrives next year, but there will definitely be mass casualties due to these monsters wreaking havoc, many of which we can likely lay at Kind Ghidorah’s feet… or wings.

Along with the previously mentioned actors, Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ main cast includes Millie Bobby Brown, Vera Farmiga, Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, Bradley Whitford, Charles Dance, Aisha Hinds, O’Shea Jackson Jr., David Strathairn and Zhang Ziyi. Each of King Ghidorah’s heads is played a different actor: Jason Liles, Alan Maxson and Richard Dorton.

Directed by Michael Dougherty, who also co-wrote the script with Zach Shields, Godzilla: King of the Monsters rampages into theaters on May 31. If you’re interested in learning what other movies are coming out later this year, head to out 2019 release schedule.

The Rise Of Skywalker Trailer Has Been Watched A Record-Breaking Number Of Times

The Rise Of Skywalker Trailer Has Been Watched A Record-Breaking Number Of Times

For months Star Wars fans waited for the first footage from what we then simply knew as Episode IX to drop, and on Friday, April 12, their wish was finally granted. The teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker premiered at Star Wars Celebration and was made available to the public immediately after. Nearly two weeks later, word’s come in that this trailer collected more views in its first 24 hours than The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi’s first trailers did.

In its first day of availability, the first Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker trailer was watched more than 111 million times. That’s 20 million more views than what The Last Jedi’s teaser trailer and more than double the views that The Force Awakens’ teaser trailer got in its first 24 hours back in late November of 2014.

Now if you look at some other recent trailers for blockbusters that also hail from Disney, like last year’s Avengers: Infinity War, this weekend’s Avengers: Endgame and this summer’s The Lion King, that 111 million views doesn’t look all that impressive. But it’s important to remember that this year, Star Wars Celebration streamed its Episode IX panel live to the world, which included showing the teaser at the very end. This is in contrast to Marvel’s traditional method of dropping a trailer ‘cold,’ i.e. not during a live-streamed event.

In terms of how the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker trailer has been faring overall since it premiered, it received 87 million views through YouTube views alone from various channels, which outpaces Rogue One’s 87 million, but still lags behind The Force Awakens’ 103 million and The Last Jedi’s 119 million. There isn’t any data on how it’s done on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram views, but Deadline’s report also mentions that even if you just look at the YouTube performance, the preview is going viral “like crazy.”

Let’s not kid ourselves, Star Wars is still an incredibly lucrative and popular franchise, so it was expected that a lot of people would check out the first trailer for The Rise of Skywalker, not the least of which is because this preview is where the movie’s title was finally revealed. Still, it’s intriguing to hear that this teaser trailer has outperformed its predecessors. I imagine word of mouth factored heavily into its success, particularly for that surprise Emperor Palpatine reveal.

Aside from being the final chapter of the Skywalker Saga and taking place approximately a year after The Last Jedi, no specific plot details for The Rise of Skywalker have been revealed yet. Along with familiar faces like Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams and Ian McDiarmid all returning to a galaxy far, far away, new faces like Naomi Ackie, Keri Russell, Richard E. Grant and Dominic Monaghan have also been brought aboard.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens in theaters on December 20, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for continuing coverage. In the meantime, look through our 2019 release schedule to lear what other major motion pictures are coming out this year.

In Defense Of Will Smith’s Big Blue Genie In Aladdin

In Defense Of Will Smith’s Big Blue Genie In Aladdin

There’s been a lot written about Disney’s live action Aladdin adaptation, much of it related to Will Smith’s portrayal of the blue genie. Although many fans haven’t caught the big, all-powerful character in action yet, early looks at the sorcerer in the trailer didn’t have a lot of people pumped. In fact, a healthy percentage of those on social media openly expressed concern or frustration.

During the first look at Aladdin, fans were not impressed by how ridiculously blue the big guy looked. The criticism online got so bad that Disney even felt the need to address it, noting at the time:

We have one of the most anticipated films of the year and are confident that audiences will fall in love with the Genie and all of the characters when it hits the big screen this May.

At Cinema-Con, more people heard from the Genie, who sang, danced and went for it with a hip-hop influenced version of “Friend Like Me,” which Will Smith has also performed on the press circuit ahead of the release of Aladdin. Some of the people around me were openly snickering and talking about how bad they thought it was.

The thing is, Will Smith’s version of Aladdin’s Genie is spectacular.

It would be hard to top Robin Williams in the role, but Will Smith doesn’t even try. Instead he brings his own energy and presence (although he keeps the hairdo). No doubt fans will recognize some similarities to Williams’ original version, particularly in lines like “itty bitty living space,” but for the most part, this is a nice, new creation, brought to life on the back of Will Smith’s lovable and unique energy. The result is one of the biggest reasons why Aladdin is a fun and breezy movie that does bring feelings of nostalgia, but also has a fresh new coat of paint.

The Genie is, by definition, a showy character. He’s loud, fast-paced and frantic. Given that and the fact that fans really liked the Genie in the original animated Aladdin, there’s no way there wouldn’t be some clear overlap between the new and original versions. The much-discussed rendition of “Friend Like Me” illustrates that and out of context, created a stir among those angry fans.

In context, however, it becomes very clear what a great job Will Smith did here. There are enough similarities that fans will recognize and appreciate the Genie, but there are enough clear differences here to feel original and unique. That’s not an easy line to walk. Only someone with the charisma and the grandiosity of Will Smith could pull off the showy, over the top parts of the Genie without feeling like a less impressive karaoke version of Robin Williams and yet still have the acting confidence to play some of his scenes with a much quieter and serious energy. He goes big without feeling like a copy and yet pulls back enough to have some real heart.

Recently, Will Smith revealed that he based his version of the Genie on the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air character who helped to kickstart his career back in the nineties. You can see that, but to me, that may be a bit too simplistic. Smith deserves more credit than that. You won’t see this and think, “Oh, that’s just a blue Fresh Prince”. Only after hearing the comparison will you think, “Oh, that makes sense.”

Guy Ritchie and Will Smith definitely put a lot of effort into making the movie feel different. Let’s talk more specifically about some of those differences with minor spoilers. So, if you haven’t seen the movie yet and don’t want to know anything, then go ahead and bail now.

Will Smith’s live action genie strives to be human, but also to find meaning in family. He actually has a love interest just like Prince Ali of Ababwa in the film, played by Nasim Pedrad. The two bounce off one another comedically onscreen, leading to some of the film’s funniest moments. The dynamic between the two also helps us to see a different side of the Genie’s personality that doesn’t typically have a chance to come out.

The basic formatting of the story helps with differentiation too. Guy Ritchie took a long-touted and recently confirmed fan theory and totally rolled with it in this new version, making the Genie the man telling the story of Aladdin, Jasmine, a magic lamp and Agrabah. This choice gives him more agency and allows us to interact with him outside of the narrative framework of the basic story we’re all familiar with.

Those choices, plus a few more I won’t spoil here, all serve to give us a Genie that is familiar and identifiable but also new, different and exciting, which is, I think what we all wanted. It would have been stupid to create a live action Aladdin that was a shot-for-shot remake of the original, filled with the same characters we’ve all around seen. That being said, it would have also been stupid to create a movie filled with characters so different from the original there was no point in even calling it Aladdin.

Sure, he’s big and he’s blue. Sure, the character Will Smith is playing is a little ridiculous and can’t ever possibly eclipse Robin Williams’ beloved original. But he gives a really good performance here, filled with charm and enough originality to keep fans entertained. It’s a performance that takes the zaniness of playing an all-powerful-but-blue being and strikes the balance between going big and pulling back.

Will Smith doesn’t deserve all the criticism he’s gotten over the past few months. He’s good in Aladdin. A lot of fans are going to love the choices he made with his character, and if nothing else, this should serve as a good reminder that sometimes it’s really hard to judge standalone scenes or trailers without the proper context. So, go see it and decide for yourself. Don’t take the grumblings on social media from people who haven’t even seen the movie as evidence you should stay away. I had a good time with his character and the larger movie, and I suspect a lot of others will too.

Avengers: Endgame Death Pool Quiz

Avengers: Endgame Death Pool Quiz

We're super excited about the new Avengers movie coming out soon -- SO excited that we decided to make an Avengers: Endgame Death Pool!

Do you think you know what's going to happen in Avengers: Endgame? Prove it by taking our quiz and enter to win!

What Is The Avengers: Endgame Death Pool?

The idea of a "death pool," for those who might not be as familiar, is to guess whether or not different people will be alive at the end of an event.

In this case, that event is the upcoming Avengers: Endgame! Infinity War set the precedent that there would be heroic casualties in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the name Endgame brings an ominous vibe suggesting not everyone is going to make it out alive - but who will and who won't? That's the guessing game we're playing here.

We have a survey below where you can make your guesses about who survives, consisting of the main and side characters from the Marvel universe who will probably be in the movie. We also have some extra questions to really test your MCU knowledge.

The Rules

We will give five points per correct guess on a main character, and one point per correct guess on a side character.

If a character does NOT appear in the movie, then the correct answer is however we saw them last.

We also have in the survey some extra five-point questions about what might happen in the movie to give you even more of a chance to prove how good you are at predicting the future.

And finally, we have one final tiebreaker question that is unlikely to have very many ties. In the case where there does end up being a tie on the main questions, the person with the closest guess on this one wins! If there are STILL ties after this question, then there will just be multiple winners.

The quiz will close at 11:59PM CST on Sunday, April 21st.

You can get started if you keep scrolling to the questions section below. Don't get dusted! And no using the Time Stone.

Prize

One lucky winner will receive their very own Marvel Legends Series Infinity Gauntlet like the one shown in the video below.

We ask for a valid email address and optional social media handles in the quiz so that when the results are in and we figure out who the winner is, we can send you the gauntlet and give you shoutouts on our social media channels!

We hope you have fun with this and share with all your friends if you want to see who can make the best guess!

The Quiz!

If the survey didn't load, you can take it by clicking here to visit the survey directly!!!

Thanks again for participating in our Death Pool!

Where To Do Some Research

If you're trying to get an edge on the competition, you may want to read up on all of the news that we've written about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There have been trailers, news stories about the actors coming and going from the franchise, news about the Marvel Phase 4 movies and more!

Find our Latest Marvel News Here.

Check out our MCU Timeline Infographic here.

See our video from Sean about a crazy Avengers: Endgame theory about the snap.

Subscribe to the CinemaBlend YouTube Channel to see upcoming Endgame videos that might shed more light on some things!

Maybe these six powerful moments from the Endgame trailer have some importance?

The list of upcoming Marvel Phase 4 Movies sounds like it could definitely help.

That's all the links we're going to give out so easily, though. For the rest, you're on your own! Good luck!

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!