The Correct Order To Watch The Hellboy Movies
Hellboy is one of the most successful superhero comic characters outside of the Marvel/DC duopoly; his adventures bridge the gaps between fantasy, horror, and good old-fashioned pulp.
In 1944, Nazis led by Grigori Rasputin (yes, the Rasputin) opened a portal to Hell to summon the harbinger of the apocalypse. They succeeded — the being in question was a demon child named Anung Un Rama ( "And upon his brow is set a crown of flame"). The Nazis were defeated by Allied soldiers and the child was adopted by Professor Trevor Bruttenholm and named Hellboy. Professor "Broom" raised his son into the top agent for the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (The BPRD); Hellboy approaches his job with the attitude of a working stiff and is really unenthusiastic about his destiny to destroy the world.
Unlike his contemporaries superheroes, Hellboy hasn't had the most successful time on film. "Hellboy" has been adapted as an unfinished trilogy and then a failed reboot. Now, comic creator Mike Mignola is spearheading yet another go at it, with a lower-budget reboot titled "Hellboy: The Crooked Man."
If you want to enjoy the "Hellboy" films, how do you watch them?
The correct order for Hellboy
The first "Hellboy" films were directed by Guillermo del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth, "The Shape of Water"), starring Ron Perlman as Hellboy himself. While del Toro shares Mignola's evident love of genre fiction, he is also a romantic and brings that spirit to Mignola's world. Watch del Toro's "Hellboy" movies in release date and chronological order:
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"Hellboy" (2004)
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"Hellboy II: The Golden Army" (2008)
And that's it. Pretty easy, huh? The story tragically stops there; del Toro had ideas for a "Hellboy III", but that trilogy closer remained in development hell for years before being finally declared dead in 2017.
Instead, Mignola handed the reins to director Neil Marshall ("The Descent"), and Hellboy was recast with David Harbour (who deserved a better movie). Despite clear franchise plans, there was only one movie due to poor reception:
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"Hellboy" (2019)
My advice is to skip this one altogether, but if you insist, at least watch del Toro's "Hellboy" films first. If you're a newcomer, they detail Hellboy's origin in more depth and don't have the same obsession with incorporating as many Mignola characters as possible. Plus, they're just much better movies than the 2019 one.
As for "The Crooked Man"? It will be a second reboot, so no need to worry about how it slots in order-wise compared to the previous three "Hellboy" films.
Hellboy beyond live-action
You may not know that there were two animated "Hellboy" films too. Released between the del Toro films in 2006-2007, they share the same main cast as those movies (and del Toro produced them), but they're not part of the same continuity. The films employed character designer Sean Galloway while the second was co-directed by Victor Cook; both went on to work on "The Spectacular Spider-Man," and the stylistic resemblance to that series is uncanny.
My advice is to watch "Hellboy Animated" after the del Toro duology. They're standalone films that assume some familiarity with the characters and setting. Plus, they're best enjoyed not as an appetizer, but as satiation if you want more of Ron Perlman's Hellboy.
As for what order to watch the animated "Hellboy" films on their own:
- "Hellboy: Sword of Storms" (2006)
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"Hellboy: Blood and Iron" (2007)
If the movies win you over, then you should check out Mike Mignola's original "Hellboy" comics while you're at it. Mignola is one of the greatest American comic artists of his generation, with a style that eschews naturalism in favor of images possible only with a pen and paper. Alan Moore has compared his work on "Hellboy" to Jack Kirby; Mignola's imagination in creating wondrous aliens and worlds rivals the King. However, Mignola uses shadowed shading to bring gothic tones to the pulp. Even when his comics are colorful, they're dark.
Unlike many comics, "Hellboy" is not a long-running serialized series but rather a collection of one-shots and mini-series. You can start with volume 1, "Seed of Destruction," or if you're confident you'll like the comics, the recent "Monster-Sized Hellboy" omnibus.