Even the most casual movie fan might have expected to hear that one of cinema’s most iconic characters is returning to the big screen.
Instead, a bizarre, messy marketing campaign left even industry insiders unaware of the film’s existence, as fans wondered why the studio appeared to have given up on it before it was out.
Guillermo del Toro’s 2005 and 2008 “Hellboy” movies, which brought comic artist Mike Mignola’s beloved demon detective to life, are cult classics. To this day, fans beg del Toro and lead actor Ron Perlman to make a third installment. But a sequel never came to fruition, and Perlman told Business Insider earlier this year that he had made peace with not playing Hellboy again.
Instead, fans got 2019’s widely panned “Hellboy”reboot, led by “Stranger Things” actor David Harbour. That left fans hungry for production company Millennium Media to redeem itself and do justice to one of the most recognizable comic …