As the Hellboy reboot gets set to start production next month, we’ve now had confirmation that the B.P.R.D. will indeed feature in this new outing for Big Red.

The news comes courtesy of Newsarama, with Mike Mignola confirming to the outlet that the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense will be a part of the picture. As Hellboy creator Mignola explained, “The B.P.R.D. figures into the movie. I don’t want to say who is and who isn’t in the movie. I think it’s fair to say, however, that the primary focus is Hellboy and not a B.P.R.D. team movie.”

The organisation has featured in the Hellboy comics throughout their run, and even had their own spinoff B.P.R.D. book. For those not familiar with this rag-tag group, they’re made up of the likes of pyrokinetic Elizabeth Sherman, the amphibious Abe Sapien, ectoplasmic medium Johann Kraus, and Dr. Kate Corrigan. In the previous two Hellboy movies, the B.P.R.D. and many of its key members – such as Selma Blair as Sherman, Doug Jones as Sapien, and Seth MacFarlane as Kraus – made appearances.

So far, Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen has David Harbour on board as Hellboy, Ian McShane as Professor Broom, and Milla Jovovich as the villainous Blood Queen. The Descent’s Neil Marshall is directing.

As ever, expect more on this as it continues to develop.

With Sony currently working away on their Venom movie, the Eddie Brock-centric picture is in talks with Riz Ahmed for a significant role in the film.

As per Variety, the Rogue One actor is in negotiations to join Venom, with sources saying that the role in question is that of a popular Marvel character. Of course, with Carnage previously believed to be the villain of the piece, there’s already been speculation that Ahmed could well be getting set to play this most nefarious of maniacal bad guys.

On that front, though, the current word is that Ahmed’s role would not be Cletus Kasady, aka Carnage, although he was considered for that part before certain script changes took place. Then again, it’s also being reported that Carnage is indeed still to be featured in the film, so we’ll all just have to wait and see as this continues to develop.

With Tom Hardy on board to star and Zombieland’s Ruben Fleischer to direct, Venom is currently booked in for an October 5th, 2018 release. As ever, expect more on this as we get it.

With Neil Marshall now developing a Hellboy reboot, the film – titled Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen – has moved to cast its titular Queen.

As per Deadline, Milla Jovovich has landed the Blood Queen role. Jovovich, of course, is best known to genre fans for the likes of The Fifth Element and the Resident Evil franchise, and her casting seems like it could well be a perfect fit.

At this stage, it’s not been officially confirmed that the Blood Queen of the title is indeed the comic book Queen of Blood, aka Nimue. If that does prove to be the case, that’s a character who was resurrected to bring Hellboy to Gruagach. From there, she would ultimately end up dragging Hellboy to hell with her despite an all-mighty battle involving a horde of dead knights.

It was earlier this year that Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen was announced as a cinematic reboot for Big Red, and Stranger Things’ David Harbour was instantly announced as taking over the Hellboy mantle from Ron Perlman. Similarly, The Descent’s Neil Marshall was revealed to be taking over the director’s chair from Guillermo del Toro. In more recent weeks, American Gods’ Ian McShane has been brought in to play Professor Broom – the role played by John Hurt in del Toro’s two movies.

As ever, expect more on Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen as it continues to develop.

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything on it, but now Universal’s Cowboy Ninja Viking has finally been given a release date.

The Chris Pratt-starring adaptation of the famed Image Comics property has been officially booked in for June 28th, 2019, which will see it go head-to-head with the upcoming sixth entry in the main Transformers franchise.

Pratt will be taking on the titular role of a new kind of assassin, an assassin who has the skills of three distinct personas: Cowboy Ninja Viking. The comic book property was created by AJ Lieberman and Riley Rossmo, and this big-screen adaptation has been in development for the past few years.

Despite now being given a release date, Cowboy Ninja Viking has yet to officially find a director. That said, it’s believed that an announcement will be made shortly on that front.

In some fantastic news, Mark Millar’s Millarworld has been acquired by Netflix.

A modern-day comic book favourite of many a genre fan, Millar is best known as the man behind huge big-name arcs such as Superman: Red Son, Civil War and Old Man Logan, while he’s also created amazing properties such as Wanted, Kick-Ass, The Secret Service, Nemesis, Starlight, Superior, Huck and far more than we could list here. In addition to that, of course, Millar has also been as a creative consultant for 20th Century Fox for the past few years, too.

The current plan is for this deal between Netflix and Millar to lead to a whole host of Millar’s famed Millarworld properties being brought to life for the on-demand streaming service. Movies, series, and kids’ shows are all currently planned for the varying portfolio of characters that Millarworld brings to the table.

At present, no specific details have been released regarding the deal, but Netflix’s Ted Sarandos enthused, “As creator and re-inventor of some of the most memorable stories and characters in recent history, ranging from Marvel’s The Avengers to Millarworld’s Kick-Ass, Kingsman, Wanted and Reborn franchises, Mark is as close as you can get to a modern day Stan Lee. We can’t wait to harness the creative power of Millarworld to Netflix and start a new era in global storytelling.”

For Millar’s part, he released at statement on his Millarworld forums – which can be found in full here – which said, “Warner Bros bought DC Comics in 1968. Disney bought Marvel in 2009. Today Netflix purchased Millarworld and I’m still blinking. This is only the third time in history a comic-book company purchase on this scale has ever happened. Over the years, Millarworld amassed twenty different franchises working with the world’s greatest artists and now Millarworld has been bought by the hottest, most exciting entertainment company on the planet. To say this is the best thing that ever happened in our professional lives would be an understatement.”

Millar runs Millarworld with his wife Lucy, and the pair are now going to enjoy a well-earned break from all things ‘work’ to spend the rest of the summer enjoying some family time with their children.

As ever, expect more on all of this as it continues to develop. We’re most certainly all kinds of excited at the potential to bring some truly mesmerising properties and characters to life, and here’s hoping this deal leads to some brilliant and must-see films and shows.