Perhaps more importantly, Neil Marshall’s work on films like Dog Soldiers have proven that he knows how to balance horror with the appropriate levels of comedy that a Hellboy movie would require.
Del Toro knew how to walk that tightrope, and all evidence seems to indicate that Neil Marshall can walk a similar path.
For those of you who have not seen Dog Soldiers, it is a low-budget action/horror hybrid centering on a group of British troops in a desperate fight for survival against werewolves in the Scottish Highlands.
Whether this involves a monster getting his hands on a shotgun or simple reaction shots from the movie’s central cast, a Hellboy movie will need that degree of deft handling when it comes to balancing its humor with its horror.