Hellboy 3: 10 Comic Plots That Should Be Used

The climax of Hellboy's first story arc on the page, that ended the initial run of Hellboy comics and spun the character off into Hellboy In Hell, revolves around the power struggle to rule over the world's witches. If Del Toro wants to use a major character arc from the comics for his finale, this is one that makes sense as it would build towards a big final confrontation and draw on some characters and elements already in play from the first film.

Hecate, the Greek Goddess of Witches, appears as a recurring antagonist in the comics (as well as in the second of the movie's animated spin-offs). After she is defeated and seemingly killed by Hellboy in an early story, she possesses the form of Rasputin's lover Ilsa Haupstein, who has sacrificed herself in an iron maiden at Rasputin's bidding. This human side eventually allows her to be trapped and destroyed by a minor villain in the Darkness Calls arc, creating a power vacuum as Queen of Witches.

Hecate's absence both makes some of the witches consider Hellboy as a potential new leader (the kind of thing that could prove an inciting plot point to kick off Hellboy's involvement in a new story) and creates a space for a far more dangerous villain to emerge in her place.

In addition to this, the presence of Ilsa as a character in the original movie has a chance to tie that film's Rasputin plot to a more fairy tale mythological narrative similar to the second film, bringing the whole series together. Of course, she does get crushed alongside Rasputin by the behemoth at the end of the first film, but if The Golden Army epilogue promises a Rasputin return, then a version of Ilsa can come back too.