Did the new Hellboy movie use AI? Crooked Man backlash explained
LionsgateHellboy is coming back with a bang this year, but there’s already trouble thanks to a potential AI scandal. Is any of it true?
AI scandals in 2024 movie and TV releases have been about as common as MCU announcements. Late Night with the Devil, Secret Invasion, and Netflix documentary What Jennifer Did have all recently come under fire for it — and it doesn’t look like usage of AI will stop.
While fan opinion remains divided on whether it should be used, another movie has found itself at the center of an AI storm… and it hasn’t even been released yet.
But what exactly is happening with the new Hellboy movie, and did it actually use AI?
Did the new Hellboy movie use AI?
No, the new Hellboy movie didn’t use AI. However, there’s been some confusion thanks to comments made by President of Millennium Films Jonathan Yunger that suggested it did.
During a discussion at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year, Yunger was quoted [via Motion Pictures]: “‘I wasn’t a fan of AI,’ he said, but ‘after shooting a demon character practically (for a film called Hellboy due out later this year) that didn’t look great, he turned to AI to come up with a new design, on a platform he built himself. ‘I was able to make 3000 creature designs in an hour. So now I can start to cherry-pick and edit those and then send it to visual effects,’ he said.”
As well as this, AI speculation was doubled down on thanks to a follow-up Yunger quote from the same interview.
In the quote, Yunger states that he believes people who use AI creatively will replace those who don’t, leading fans to brand the remark as “insulting” and “tone deaf.”
After Hellboy: The Crooked Man began to come under fire for potential AI usage, the movie’s co-writer and director Brian Taylor took to social media to clarify that no AI had been used throughout the project.
In a post on X/Twitter, Taylor explained, “To be clear: there is exactly *ZERO* AI used on Hellboy: The Crooked Man. Both characters — Hellboy and the Crooked Man — were created and shot 100% gloriously practical, as the movie gods intended, with no CGI enhancement… and look AMAZING.”
“He was misquoted, my man,” Taylor followed up in another reply. “The comment was referring to a different film, THE OFFERING. Rest assured there is zero AI used on HBTCM and our gloriously practical Hellboy looks phenomenal. Probably the article was written by AI…”
Despite this, fans aren’t exactly convinced. “AHAM surely it’s not just damage control,” one fan replied to the news, with others suggesting that they don’t believe Taylor’s statement.
“Oh okay, just another film he’s working on is using AI. That’s totally better lol,” a third weighed in.
What is Hellboy: The Crooked Man about?
Hellboy: The Crooked Man is set to take place in 1950s Appalachia, with Hellboy discovering a small community of witches led by the so-called Crooked Man.
“In the 1950s, Hellboy and a rookie BPRD agent, stranded in rural Appalachia, discover a small community haunted by witches, led by a local devil with a troubling connection to Hellboy’s past: the Crooked Man,” the official synopsis reads.
The movie marks the second reboot of the series and the fourth live-action film of the franchise. Taylor co-wrote the script based on the Crooked Man limited series by Mike Mignola.
Jack Kesy will take on the role of Hellboy, with Martin Bassindale playing opposite as Jeremiah Witkins, aka the Crooked Man. Bassindale is also cast as head of the B.P.R.D Professor Trevor “Broom” Bruttenholm.
“We went on a long soul-searching expedition to find the right Hellboy, and we knew that this Hellboy was gonna be a very moody, very kind of dark and creepy movie,” producer Les Weldon told Collider.
“There’s no gloss, nothing like that. And Jack, look, I had worked with Jack before, as had other guys in our company, and we sort of came to the same conclusion that that sort of personality he has was gonna work really nicely for that film.”
Hellboy: The Crooked Man doesn’t have a confirmed release date yet, but is speculated to drop later in 2024.
Find even more amazing movies, TV shows, and true crime documentaries to catch on streaming this month. If that’s not enough, find out what’s in store this year for K-drama.
