When Hellboy returns to theaters next, it won't be the same one that Ron Perlman played in 2004 and 2008. Instead, the Dark Horse Comics protagonist is being rebooted for a new era, and this time he'll be brought to life by Stranger Things star David Harbour. Last week it was reported that John Wick's Ian McShane had boarded the reboot has Harbour's first costar to play Professor Broom, and today brings word that Resident Evil star Milla Jovovich is being eyed to play the movie's main antagonist.
While it's been officially confirmed that the reboot will simply be called Hellboy rather than Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen as previously reported, the Blood Queen will indeed be the central villain in this new story, and Deadline reports that Milla Jovovich is in final talks to play the evildoer. Once she's signed on the dotted line, she'll be the third actor to join this reboot, which is beginning production soon and, unlike the Guillermo del Toro-helmed Hellboy movies, is aiming for an R rating.
Following her breakout role as Leeloo de Sabat in The Fifth Element, Milla Jovovvich's main claim to fame has been playing Alice in the Resident Evil film series, which concluded last year with Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (although like Hellboy, that property is already being primed for a reboot). With so much genre cred, Jovovich jumping to the world of Hellboy is a fitting next step forward, and this time, she gets to be the one wreaking havoc rather than the one stopping it. Jovovich's other notable roles include playing Katinka Ingabogovinanana in the Zoolander movies, Joan of Arc in The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc and Kate Abbot in Survivor.
In the Hellboy comics, the Queen of Blood was originally called Nimue, though in the time of King Arthur, she was better known as the Lady of the Lake. After stealing Merlin's power, she was soon corrupted and started worshipping the Ogdru Jahad. The Queen was eventually defeated when Britain's other witches chopped her into pieces and kept them in a box to prevent her from reforming, but centuries later, she was made whole again and soon fell into conflict with Hellboy. It's unclear how closely Milla Jovovich's Blood Queen will match up to the comic book version, but as the primary villain, no doubt her schemes pose a threat to all of reality, and only a certain red-skinned demon can stop her.
The Hellboy reboot, which is being directed by The Descent's Neil Marshall, is expected to be released in theaters sometime 2018, so keep checking in with CinemaBlend to learn how it's coming along.
