Shacking up with Selma Blair’s Liz proves to be more difficult for Hellboy than saving the world.

By Shawn Adler, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

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He’s the lead in one of the biggest, most-anticipated comic blockbusters of the summer, an action-packed follow-up in which he reprises his role as the demon Hellboy. He of the super strength. He of the super-healing factor. He of the literally indestructible Right Hand of Doom, a granite fist that holds the key to the apocalypse.

But ask Ron Perlman what he’s most looking forward to in “Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” and the answer isn’t more ferocious fights or bigger beasties. It’s romantic, candlelit dinners.

“The stuff that was cool about the first movie, the quiet stuff, the stuff that is interpersonal and character-driven and idiosyncratic [is what I'm most anticipating],” Perlman said. “The charming aspects of it got better in the second one.”

Since the first movie, Hellboy has become something of a lover boy, as his relationship with fellow paranormal investigator Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) has blossomed.

“We start off the film on the next level, where we’re living together.” Perlman teased. “She’s living in my bachelor pad with me and my 55 cats, my 22 television screens, all of which are either playing ‘Popeye’ or ‘The Three Stooges.’ ”

“You know how that goes,” director Guillermo del Toro joked.

“Not well,” Perlman added.

What makes Hellboy’s romance different from most other comic book romances, of course, is that Liz isn’t your prototypical damsel in distress — even when, as in parts of this film, she is something of a damsel in distress.

The couple finished the first film happily united. But what happens when things aren’t going well? There are many pratfalls to office romances, but they pale in comparison to the ones you face when that office is charged with saving the world, Perlman joked, telling MTV News that he was particularly proud of how the Liz/Hellboy dynamic intersected with and influenced the main story.

“The relationship gets tested, which is a story that runs parallel to the big ‘A’ story of the film. You get to see the guy you saw in the first film, who was filled with swagger and one-liners and arrogance, you get to see him completely at sea emotionally,” Perlman revealed. “He’s vulnerable and compromised while he’s trying to save the world. And he’s slightly inebriated because that’s the way he processes utter despair.”

If only there were someone he could talk to. Turns out, there just might be, confessed co-star Doug Jones.

“[Abe Sapien] falls in love for the first time ever,” Jones said. “You asked what we’re looking forward to — I’m looking forward to seeing how that plays out onscreen, because it felt really right while we were filming it. Anna Walton plays Princess Nuala, and she’s beautiful and she’s good.

“He was kind of a one-note intellect before,” Jones added of Abe. “Now he’s got an emotional life and also vulnerabilities and insecurities.”

Poor Hellboy. Poor Abe Sapien. Poor humanity. “Hellboy II” opens July 11.

From MTV.com

New York City’s Comic Con was the scene of gushing fan-gasms as the faithful flocked to see the stars of Hellboy II: The Golden Army. I’m talkin crowds, wrapped around like noodles, for a chance to see everyone’s favorite ass kicking demon, sans the red make-up, and the rest of the original gangster BPRD crew. The panel was hilarious with monsters on stage and more cursing from Guillermo Del Toro than I’ve ever seen at a public event.

I was lucky enough to get a few minutes with the cast before the panel. It was mayhem as well in the press room, but I did my best to keep the camera steady under the hot lights; for the even hotter Selma Blair, bad guy supreme Luke Goss, Doug ‘Abe Sapien finally gets some lovin’ Johnson, and the baddest mofo this side of hell, Ron ‘Hellboy’ Perlman.

Exclusive: Hellboy II Cast

Exclusive: Selma Blair

From Superhero Flix

There’s a brand new Drew Sturzan poster for Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and it can be all yours if you’re going to the New York City Comic Con. The good folks at CHUD have given us a preview shot of it, and the poster is an awesome piece of art.

Even better, this poster can be yours if you happen to be going to the Comic-Con. Anyone attending the Hellboy II: The Golden Army panel on Saturday with Guillermo del Toro, Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Luke Goss and Mike Mignola can get their own copy of the poster.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army stars Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Selma Blair (Liz Sherman), and Doug Jones (Abe Sapien). The sequel film directed by Guillermo del Toro comes to theatres July 11, 2008.

From Superhero Flix

The heroes in this summer’s crop of superhero films have the potential to be some of the most sophisticated and compelling in action-movie history, bolstered by the high-wattage charisma of Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Christian Bale (as Batman in The Dark Knight), Ed Norton (The Incredible Hulk), and, maybe to a lesser extent, Will Smith (Hancock). Additionally, these films pack an impressive amount of star power and talent into their supporting female roles: Gwyneth Paltrow as Tony Stark’s executive assistant, Virginia “Pepper” Potts; Liv Tyler as scientist Betty Ross, Maggie Gyllenhaal as Gotham district attorney Rachel Dawes, and Charlize Theron as the hypotenuse of Jason Bateman–Will Smith love triangle. This talent roster seems to suggest that we’ll be seeing one hell of an other half this summer — but just how super will these heroines be?

Probably not very. Historically, in superhero movies, the only way for an actress to get a piece of the action is to be a piece of action. While all these female characters will certainly be smart, capable women, their primary function will still be as the hero’s love interest. These perilous roles virtually guarantee that no amount of brains or pluck will be enough for a damsel to save herself from distress; her endangerment serves to ratchet up the tension of the film, which is always nicely resolved with the tender coda of her rescue. Naturally, as usual, the girls will also suffer the emotional kryptonite of loving a man with a serious identity crisis. On top of that, they’ll be given no otherworldly powers to contend with their crises, unless you count being really foxy with superhuman capacities for understanding.

Thank the gods, then, for Selma Blair. As the sharp, pyrokinetic Liz Sherman of Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Blair promises to be the antidote to all this leggy helplessness. She may be Hellboy’s main squeeze, but she wields her very own superpower as a member of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, an international intelligence agency frequently tasked with saving the world. Still, it’s telling that the only real superwoman we’ll see this summer is in the most low-profile film of the genre, being played by the actress least likely to be featured in Us Weekly. That’s a pretty woeful state of affairs for such an otherwise enlightened set of hero tales. What does it take to get some superequal rights up in here? —Tammy Oler

From New York Magazine