Could ‘Hellboy III’ Mean The Death Of Hellboy? We ...

Guillermo del Toro talks about the “Hellboy” movies being a trilogy – what with the first film being about his birth, the second his teenage choices, and the third about becoming an adult and facing the consequences of those choices. “The third one would be facing your destiny, if such a thing exists, and making the ultimate decision,” del Toro says.

Tantalizing, but vague. So we asked “Hellboy” creator Mike Mignola to clarify – what would the final installment be about, besides bouncing Hellboy babies? Turns out, quite a bit.

“The problem is, what del Toro’s talked about to me is that ‘Hellboy III’ would be the end of Hellboy,” Mignola said. “And here’s where we have the big conflict. My version of Hellboy in the comics is a finite story, but it’s going to take me 15 years to get to the ending. If he makes ‘Hellboy III’ and it’s the death of Hellboy, I’m left doing the comic going, ‘But I’m not done yet.’

“My Hellboy is not going to have kids,” Mignola added. “My Hellboy is going to die, but I want to be the one who does that. And if del Toro does my ending, there won’t be a lot of surprise when I get to the end of the comic.”

Now, del Toro hasn’t necessarily said he’s planning to do that particular ending — “We haven’t spent a lot of time talking about what his version of the story would be,” Mignola said, “and I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about that one.” But the worry is still there, in the back of Mignola’s mind, despite Hellboy the movie having moved so far a field of Hellboy the comic. “I can’t help but think he’s coming to the conclusion of the story.”

Still, del Toro has “The Hobbit” to deal with first – which means it’ll be at least four years before he turns back to the world of Hellboy. And who knows if the studio wants to wait that long? “There are so many questions about how it might happen,” Mignola said. “And I hear ideas how it might be done, but I have no idea how it would happen. It would be nice to strike while the iron is hot, but I don’t know how that would be done.”

And if it doesn’t turn out the way he wants, if his ending is the more filmic way to go, “that will be between me, del Toro, and my therapist,” Mignola laughed. “I’m still raising Hellboy. I’m not done with the character yet.”

What do you want to see happen in “Hellboy III”? Can you see anyone else directing the “Hellboy” movies besides del Toro if he gets too caught up in “The Hobbit”? Or is he worth the wait?