Hellboy: The Crooked Man is aiming to reinvent Hellboy’s cinematic presence with a fascinating new approach, opening up plenty of possibilities for future Hellboy adaptations. The last cinematic appearance of Hellboy was in the 2019 David Harbour star vehicle, which suffered from a relatively poor critical reception. The release of the upcoming Hellboy: The Crooked Man trailer seems to be taking the franchise in a new direction, focusing on a stand-alone horror story that happens to feature Hellboy.
Hellboy: The Crooked Man will be based on the comic of the same name, a shorter story by series creator Mike Mignola that sees Hellboy join a rookie BRPD agent in the mountains of Appalachia to battle a deadly coven of witches led by a mysterious demon. Despite a divisive fan reaction to initial previews, Hellboy: The Crooked Man has the potential to be better than 2019’s Hellboy. If this shorter, self-contained story is any indication of where future movies are headed, Mignola’s other quiet horror narratives featuring Hellboy as a paranormal investigator first, world-ending demon second could be next.
10 Hellboy: Box Full Of Evil
A moody buddy cop horror investigation
Since Hellboy: The Crooked Man promises to focus on Big Red himself, with no mention of his traditional supporting roster in sight, the first sequel could be a great place to introduce the beloved fish man Abe Sapien, who almost got his own spin-off. No story presents a better introduction for him that still largely hems in Hellboy’s more serialized plot elements than the two-part miniseries Hellboy: Box Full of Evil. Here, Hellboy and Abe Sapien join up to investigate a mysterious break-in at an old English manor.
The BRPD duo get more than they bargained for when the object stolen turns out to be an iron box containing a sinister demon, which quickly sets its sights on Hellboy. Hellboy: Box Full of Evil could be a great place to start slowly introducing the heavier lore elements of Hellboy’s backstory while largely remaining a fun buddy-cop horror adventure with the two leading inhuman investigators. The infamous series of panels in which a demonic monkey wields a gun against the protagonists would be pure gold to see filmed in live-action.
9 The Third Wish
An atmospheric undersea escape movie
After the harrowing events of Conqueror Worm, Hellboy quits the BRPD, heading to Africa to find himself. It isn’t long before he’s pulled into more supernatural adventures while all on his lonesome, including a harrowing encounter with the mermaid hag, the Bog Roosh, one of the most powerful witches of the Hellboy mythos. Trapped under the ocean, Hellboy has to survive the undersea ordeal by the grace of a sympathetic mermaid.
The Third Wish is admittedly quite an esoteric adventure, but Mike Mignola’s incredible art is a fantastic idea board for filmmakers to craft some hauntingly beautiful scenery and special effects from. The Bog Roosh herself has the potential to be quite the visually intimidating horror movie villain, made all the more chilling by the reveal that her motivations for killing Hellboy are actually somewhat understandable. In the end, a film adaptation of this story could tease the true nature of Jack Kesy’s Hellboy while demonstrating his virtuous qualities through his interactions with the young mermaid who saves him.
8 The Troll-Witch/The Baba Yaga
A thrilling continuation of The Crooked Man’s folk horror terror
Originally releasing as part of a horror anthology series, The Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft, The Troll-Witch might be the perfect folk horror sequel to Hellboy: The Crooked Man. Framed as a prequel, The Troll-Witch plays with Hellboy’s long lifespan, taking place in 1963 when he was still a fresher demonic detective, investigating a series of brutal killings in Norway. These events lead to his confrontation with the titular Troll-Witch, who sends him one his way to confront Baba Yaga for the first time in the following story, The Baba Yaga.
A movie adaptation that begins with The Troll-Witch and leads into The Baba Yaga would be a great two-part descent into the horror of European folklore through Hellboy’s perspective. While the 2019 movie hastily included Baba Yaga in its overstuffed plot that drew inspiration from too many different comics, a more concentrated effort to show off Baba Yaga as the terrifying Hellboy villain she’s meant to be would be a welcome refreshment. It’s all the better that such a film would be a thematically appropriate follow-up to the folk horror leanings of Hellboy: The Crooked Man.
7 Hellboy In Mexico
Could remake From Dusk Till Dawn with Hellboy
Another one of the many stories 2019’s Hellboy grabbed loose inspiration from in its buffet of ideas, Hellboy In Mexico is one of the best standalone Hellboy comics around. Another one-off investigation taking place in the past, Hellboy in Mexico, also marketed as A Drunken Blur, shows Hellboy’s adventures in the 50s, describing exactly what the title promises. Hellboy joins forces with a trio of luchador triplets in their quest to rid the Mexican countryside of a nasty vampire infestation. Things get complicated when one of the brothers is kidnapped by the undead creatures, turning up as a vampire himself.
This incredible book is an obvious set-up for a Hellboy version of the From Dusk Till Dawn movies, which also feature vampire battles with found family under the blazing Mexican sun. The tragic moment Hellboy has to drive a stake through the heart of the turned luchador Camazotz in derelict Mayan temple has the potential to be the emotional dagger that drives home the horror of the unholy creatures. With a wider scope of monsters and an eccentric cast of Mexican wrestlers, Hellboy In Mexico could be the Aliens to Hellboy: The Crooked Man‘s Alien.
6 The Phantom Hand/The Kelpie
A spooky double feature that could introduce Trevor Bruttenholm
Both The Phantom Hand and The Kelpie were one-off short horror stories featuring Hellboy released together in a single comic. The two naturally flow into one another, and could make a chilling double-feature to chase the success of Hellboy: The Crooked Man. The Phantom Hand, fittingly enough, sees Hellboy and his adoptive father, Trevor Bruttenholm, travel to England to examine a supposedly haunted house, whose inhabitants claim to be terrorized by the disembodied hand of an old serial killer.
Following that, The Kelpie is a similarly straightforward story that sees Hellboy do battle with the titular folk monster, an eerie undead horse that lures riders into an early watery grave. With a bit of workshopping, the plots of both stories could easily be married into a single, elegant horror story along the lines of a modern haunted house thriller. The stories could also serve to introduce the new version of Trevor Bruttenholm, an important character and influential figure in Hellboy’s life that is nowhere to be seen in Hellboy: The Crooked Man.
5 The Wolves Of Saint August
A dour tale of lycanthropy fit for a darker Hellboy
As fun as tales of vampire-fighting Mexican wrestlers and devious mermaid witches are, a simple werewolf story might be the perfect return to the more dour-looking world of Hellboy: The Crooked Man. The Wolves of Saint August feels like a very natural comic to adapt next. Originally releasing as a four-part miniseries, The Wolves of Saint August details Hellboy’s investigation into the titular town’s sudden disappearance, with droves of citizens suddenly seeming to have been killed by wild animals. It isn’t long before Hellboy is facing down an ancient werewolf curse beset upon the desecrated lands.
There aren’t enough werewolf horror movies, and an adaptation of The Wolves of Saint August could kill two birds with one stone by pitting the Right Hand of Doom against some ferocious-looking lycanthropes. The film could also touch on establishing important characters to the BRPD mythos that could show up again later, such as Dr. Kate Corrigan and Dr. Izar Hoffman. The Wolves of Saint August is also one of the most critically-lauded Hellboy stories out there, making it good fodder for a cinematic interpretation.
4 Long Night At Goloski Station
A chilling bottle story perfect for a one-off film
If bottle horror stories are to be Hellboy’s cinematic niche going forward, one could look no further than Long Night at Goloski Station. Taking place in the span of a single night, the short story sees Hellboy stranded at a lonely Russian train station. What should be a quiet, uneventful night soon becomes an all-out war for survival when Hellboy and his new Russian friends are set upon by three sinister invaders.
Long Night at Goloski Station has the pacing of a Western, with the wintry isolation and tragic canine death of John Carpenter’s The Thing. The quiet moments allows the story room to breathe as the slow burn dread of its horror slowly sets in, making for an unforgettable debut of artist Matt Smith. Admittedly, the comic does make a few offhand references to previous Hellboy stories, but for the most part, Long Night at Goloski Station could easily work on its own as a stand-alone scary movie that just so happens to tout Hellboy as its protagonist.
3 Conqueror Worm
A mind-melting tale of Lovecraftian horror
Admittedly, Conqueror Worm is a fairly important and involved comic story that has some Earth-shattering implications for Hellboy going forward in the series. However, the potency the story promises as a self-contained cosmic horror movie with just a few simple edits is too delicious to ignore. The book revolves around Hellboy being sent to investigate an eerie abandoned Nazi castle that seems connected to some disturbing astrological phenomena. It isn’t long before Hellboy realizes he’s been set up, with his German guide Laura turning out to be the granddaughter of a Nazi supervillain looking to summon a Lovecraftian entity.
The titular Conqueror Worm is one of the most mind-bogglingly terrifying threats Hellboy has ever gone up against in the comics, and would make for a reality-warping nightmare villain that wouldn’t soon be forgotten on-screen. The story also features Lobster Johnson, a fan-favorite character and Hellboy’s personal Nazi-slaying pulp hero that features briefly in the 2019 Hellboy‘s post-credits scene. While some fat might need to be trimmed to keep Conqueror Worm a lean horror story, it’s easily the Hellboy comic with the most hotly-anticipated adaptation.
2 Heads
A Japanese horror story featuring Hellboy
Originally a vestigial add-on story to an Abe Sapien solo comic, Heads is a terrifying Hellboy short that could translate into an excellent horror film with unique Japanese trappings. Taking place in Kyoto, the story sees Hellboy travel to Japan in search of a mysterious “evil house” shunned by the population of a local fishing village. It isn’t long before Hellboy is extended an invitation to the supposedly haunted house, only to learn the location has been hosting much more devious entities than simple human ghosts.
A movie based on Heads could take on qualities from famous Japanese horror films like Ring and Ju-On: The Grudge, updating with a healthy dose of comic book mysticism. The dark silhouettes of the beautiful Japanese landscape could serve as the perfect backdrop for an entertaining fish-out-of-water story. The villains of Heads, the demonic disembodied floating heads of Japanese folklore, could also make for exclusive horror antagonists that would help set the film apart.
1 Hellboy: Krampusnacht
A instant holiday horror classic in the making
It’s hard not to love a good Christmas horror movie, and the potential Hellboy: Krampusnacht has to contribute to the niche subgenre is too good to ignore. True to its name, the winter story follows Hellboy as he tracks down a seemingly kindly old man claiming to be Krampus, the dark, demonic reflection of Saint Nicks. Sure enough, Hellboy’s quarry isn’t lying to him, and what follows is a grisly, macabre encounter with the dark side of the Christmas spirit.
Horror movies featuring Krampus are nothing new, but Hellboy could put a new spin on the concept by taking the him seriously, whereas most films featuring the goat-headed demon typically play him up at least partially for laughs. Beyond the double novelty of being a Christmas movie and a Hellboy movie, an adaptation of Hellboy: Krampusnacht presents a fascinating opportunity to draw comparisons between Hellboy and his own devilish kin, with Krampus sharing his experience of being a demon brought to Earth. Though it might not seem obvious, a chilling holiday theme could be just what Hellboy: The Crooked Man needs as a chaser.