Hellboy: 10 Flaws That Prove Hellboy 3 Would've Been Better

Hellboy's Nazi-fueled origin story is always going to be a bit cheesy on-screen, but del Toro did what he could to spice it up with a bit of solid action and suspense. Marshall attempts to do the same, but it simply feels like a boring rehash of something that was never especially interesting to begin with. Moreover, much like Lobster Johnson's appearance in that same scene, the rehashed origin tale doesn't do much to earn its place in the narrative.

In some ways, it's nice for comic fans to see something a little closer to Hellboy's comic-book origin. Unfortunately, brief glimpses of familiar characters such as Rasputin and Kroenen feel wasted when those characters play no role in the actual plot of the film. It appears that this retelling only exists for the purpose of showing us that Trevor Bruttenholm was originally supposed to kill Hellboy. Curiously, it doesn't actually bother showing the moment when he decides to adopt him instead.

Either way, knowing that Hellboy was supposed to be killed is a pretty minor detail in the grand scheme of other issues that the film wants you to focus on. It didn't need to be rehashed so elaborately, especially in a scene that doesn't pack half as much punch as the version we got in 2004. Since the reboot goes on to establish an entirely different chapter of Hellboy's origin story - his rightful heirship to the Throne of England - the scene with Lady Hatton just becomes another example of the reboot's irritating obsession with voiceover exposition. The planned sequel could have spared audiences the tedium.