Hellboy's Abe Sapien Almost Got a Spin-off TV Show - EXCLUSIVE

This month, we had the pleasure of speaking to Doug Jones, the legendary actor who has helped bring some of the most unique and creative monsters and creatures to life, most under the watchful eye of director Guillermo del Toro.

His performances as the Faun and Pale Man in Pan’s Labyrinth, Amphibian Man in The Shape of Water and the Silver Surfer in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer are some of the most incredible feats of modern cinema.

To many, though, his performance as Abe Sapien in del Toro’s two Hellboy films is the actor at the peak of his powers. Jones revealed to us that, despite the films being stopped before a third could get off the ground, Abe was supposed to star in his own spin-off series that, ultimately, was also cancelled. Could he be tempted if the offer came in now? It seems so.

How Would Abe Sapien Have Returned?

In 2017, it was announced that a new reboot of the Hellboy series was in development, with Neil Marshall, the British director behind The Descent and Dog Soldiers, signed on to direct it. He would take over from Guillermo del Toro, who had begun the franchise with Hellboy and Hellboy: The Golden Army. However, Universal Pictures decided to reboot the franchise entirely rather than proceed with del Toro’s third entry after reports suggested that the budget would be more than double what The Golden Army cost.

In 2010, however, Hellboy screenwriter Peter Briggs was contacted by Universal about potentially writing the script for a spin-off series focusing on Prince Nuada (played by Luke Goss in Hellboy II), and perhaps even directing the film as well. It would be filmed in New Zealand. Titled Hellboy: Silverlance, the show would focus on the B.P.R.D. (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense) and feature Abe as the main character, with Hellboy appearing as part of the ensemble.

The show would have seen Abe “troubled by his psychic connection with Princess Nuala” as well as researching the history of elves. In our exclusive chat with Jones, he confirmed the plans for the show, saying:

“There was talk of an Abe Sapien spin-off. There was talk of spinning him off to do a TV series for a while.

“I’m 66 years old now, so I’m wearing fewer make-ups and monsters and creatures than I’m used to… But I would never say never. If it’s the right director, the right character, the right story, the right paycheck, I would go back under the rubber bits, especially for Abe.”

Writer Briggs also talked about the series idea on his Facebook page in 2017, saying:

“The story had a sort of ‘Highlander’ structure to it. Moving into their new Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense headquarters in Colorado, Abe is still troubled by his psychic connection with Princess Nuala from ‘Hellboy 2’, so he researches the history of Nuala and Nuada. We would have seen Nuada’s connection to a rival fairy courtier who seeks control of the fairy kingdom (and Nuala’s hand in marriage), and engineers the machinations that cause Prince Nuada’s expulsion.

“Doug Jones would have been playing twin characters, both Abe and a reprise of the Angel of Death, with whom Prince Nuada strikes a bargain. Agent Myers from the first Hellboy film would have returned. The story reached a rousing action climax at the B.P.R.D. Colorado headquarters and used Rasputin’s summoning gauntlet from the first movie (and we did manage to sneak Hellboy in for a cameo in one scene). If it had been successful, it would have been the first in a series of ‘From the Files of the B.P.R.D.’ projects.”

So, What Happened?

In 2015, Briggs heard that Universal was cancelling Hellboy 3 due to budget concerns, but the studio wanted to return to the Silverlance project, reportedly with producer Lawrence Gordon involved. However, the character of Hellboy was not allowed to appear, apart from a short cameo at the end of the film, and the studio would have launched a spin-off franchise.

Sadly, that project was also killed in 2017 with the announcement of the reboot, with Marshall set to direct and Stranger Things star David Harbour taking over the lead role from Perlman. The reboot was eventually released in cinemas in April 2019, with Lionsgate handling distribution and Gordon remaining as a producer. The film also had its own production problems.

Reported tensions between the producers and Marshall, as well as between the star and director, came to light, further tainting an already risky project. Marshall was quoted as saying: “It was the worst professional experience of my life. The script was s***. The decision to make the film was a mistake.”