Hellboy: The Crooked Man Cast on Creating a New Version of One of Hellboy’s Best Stories

When asked to describe his take on one of the most well-known comic book characters ever, Hellboy: The Crooked Man star Jack Kesy has a simple answer: “I enjoy to smoke and Hellboy enjoys to smoke.”

To some movie fans, Kesy’s statement may sound flippant. After all, Kesy is stepping into some big shoes. Ron Perlman knocked it out of the park in the two much-loved Hellboy movies directed by Guillermo del Toro. Neil Marshall’s 2019 Hellboy reboot has lots of problems, but none of them involve star David Harbour, who had his own likable energy.

But to those who know the Mike Mignola comics that inspired Hellboy, Kesy’s take is pitch perfect. Hellboy might be a demon from the netherworld who fights all manner of Nazis and monsters, but he’s fundamentally a working class guy. His greatest joy comes not from experiencing the supernatural or doing good, but from eating pancakes, petting kittens, and, yes, enjoying a smoke.

“I think it’s always a good time to bring back [Hellboy],” Kesy says in a conversation with co-stars Adeline Rudolph, Jefferson White, and Den of Geek at SDCC 2024. “I think people are always looking forward to a new spin on it.”

Part of that new spin comes from the new make-up costume designed for the film, which emphasizes Hellboy’s more human elements, especially compared to the monstrous version that Harbour had. “So much of the work is done for you… The suit is made for you. There’s a pre-designed look for Hellboy that they try to try to tweak a bit,” Kesy explains. “The physicality is a little bit tricky in the costume, but I got the hang of it. I got to bring out my own personal demons, and make a hybrid.”

While the trailer for The Crooked Man suggests that the story is a Hellboy solo mission that others happen to join along the way, Rudolph says it’s actually the opposite. “We’re on a mission,” she says of her character’s connection to Big Red in the movie. Rudolph plays Bobbie Jo Song, an agent of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense. “We’re on a job, the job goes rogue, and we pick up people on the way.”

Fans of the Hellboy comics and movies won’t recognize the name Bobbie Jo Song, and with good reason. She’s a new character to the mythos, original to the film. “She’s a rookie BPRD agent that works with Hellboy. They do this trips, and it’s her first into the field,” she teases. It just so happens that trip leads to an Appalachian town haunted by the film’s titular monster—a grotesque monster from Hell—and a coven of cannibal witches.

Although Bobbie Jo Song is a new addition to this classic tale, the movie largely sticks to the source material, the 2008 comic story by Mignola and artist Richard Corben. Mignola serves as a producer and co-writer on The Crooked Man, along with co-writer Christopher Golden and co-writer and director Brian Taylor, the latter best known for the Crank movies he made with Mark Neveldine.

In fact, Mignola had strong influence on the production, even if he didn’t work directly with the actors. “We were told how supportive he was, which helped. He was exciting for what we were doing, so that was definitely inspiring,” Kesy says.

“What was so great about having [Mignola] be a part of this movie was that it follows the comic so closely that even the source material was a great place to start because we’re immersing ourselves into this world,” adds Rudolph.

That focus on the source material helped drive actor Jefferson White’s performance as Tom Ferrell, a central character in this story who’s returned to his homeland to atone for sins of the past that connect directly to the Crooked Man. “Happily, he runs into Hellboy and Bobby Jo along the way, because otherwise he wouldn’t have a chance,” says White of his character.

By sticking to Mignola’s original work, The Crooked Man embraces its horror roots, something that the 2019 one did to mixed success. For Rudolph, the horror elements were most comfortable. “I feel like I do a lot of horror, so I love this space,” she enthuses. “It’s very much my home.”

White and Kesy had a little less experience in the world of horror, but they got a lot of help from shooting in Bulgaria. “The environment was so immersive, the effects was so good, regardless of the genre, so much of the work is done for us,” White says, singling out for praise his co-star Martin Bassindale, who plays the Crooked Man. “This movie has a ton of special effects, there’s scary things all around you, horrifying performances… There’s so much to respond to that the genre takes of itself.”

With all of those pieces in place, Hellboy: The Crooked Man is ready to blaze its own trail on the screen, one puff at a time.

Hellboy: The Crooked Man releases later this year.