While many superheroes capitalize on the bigshot names of studios like Marvel and DC, there seldom comes along a character who is so iconic that they don’t need any support to gain a massive fandom. One such character is Hellboy whose comics are published by Dark Horse Comics. A movie adaptation of the comic is in the works at Millennium Films and is directed by Brian Taylor.

However, recent comments by the president of the production house seem to have ignited a pertinent debate surrounding the use of artificial intelligence in filmmaking. The uproar regarding the comments took social media by storm as fans contemplated the repercussions of their favorite character being altered by AI.

Rumors of AI Usage in Hellboy: The Crooked Man

Ron Perlman as Hellboy
Ron Perlman as Hellboy from the 2004 movie

The iconic character has a new movie in the works titled Hellboy: The Crooked Man. Directed by Brian Taylor, the live-action movie features Jack Kesy in the lead role. The plot of the movie and other cast has been kept under wraps, but we do know that the movie is going to be an adventure for Hellboy who teams up with a BRPD agent as they get stranded on an unknown land. There, they discover a band of witches whose leader is the infamous Crooked Man.

Also Read: Can we See A Hellboy 3 Starring Ron Perlman? The Actor Responds..

This movie is slated to be the third adaptation of the famous character. However, in an attempt to set the character’s appearance apart from the past versions, it seems like Jonathan Yunger, President of Millennium Films has deployed Artificial Intelligence to get more designs in less time. At the recent 74th Berlin International Film Festival, the conversation about AI taking over the creative industry steered in the direction of filmmaking. According to MotionPictures.org, Yunger said,

“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.”

A still from Hellboy
A still from Hellboy

Yunger revealed that he used AI after a practical shot of the Hellboy character did not turn out as he expected. This sparked a huge debate online where people wondered if their favorite character would be butchered in appearance just to stand out. It also forced viewers to ponder over the burgeoning AI impact on an industry as creative as filmmaking.

Also Read: “I was lost and sad and could hardly ever smile”: Selma Blair Was Scared of Getting Fired While Working in Hellboy

Brian Taylor Clarifies Yunger’s Comments

Hellboy: The Crooked Man
A comic issue cover of Hellboy: The Crooked Man

The director of Hellboy: The Crooked Man took to X (formerly Twitter) to clarify that Yunger was misquoted by the website and confirmed that the much-awaited movie does not feature any artificial intelligence use. His tweets came as a relief to die-hard fans of the comics and the character as they can’t wait to see how the crew practically shot Hellboy and the Crooked Man without AI.

His post even claims that no CGI enhancement has been used in the movie, which made fans wonder how they would have achieved the action scenes and the locations for the setting. Taylor further elaborated that Yunger was talking about another film that the studio is currently undertaking, and definitely not Hellboy: The Crooked Man.

The movie is set to release later this year.

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