Entertainment
How A Superhero Sequel Dumped By Disney Became Hulu's Biggest Hit
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Superhero movies aren’t as big as they once were, with Marvel’s latest, Captain America: Brave New World struggling to surpass the box office of Antman and The Wasp: Quantumania, but even then, the fall of Hellboy, from big-budget Guillermo del Toro production to an afterthought tossed onto Hulu, is astonishing. Yet, Hellboy: The Crooked Man, the fourth film in the series, starring the third actor, Jack Kesy, to portray the demonic good guy, debuted as the Number One film on Hulu in 2025.
Hellboy: The Crooked Man is the most direct adaptation of Mike Mignola’s comic yet, and even a low-budget film with cheap effects can’t keep a good story down. If you haven’t seen it, now is the time.
A Different Type Of Demon
Hellboy: The Crooked Man is not a globe-trotting adventure like the other films starring Ron Perlman and David Harbour, instead, it’s set in the forests of Appalachia in a small town filled with witches and haunted by a dark presence. Hellboy and rookie B.P.R.D. agent Bobbie Jo Song (Adeline Rudolph), a character not found in the original graphic novel, get wrapped up with Tom (Jefferson White) a soldier coming home to confront the The Crooked Man (Martin Bassindale) and reconcile with his witchy ex-girlfriend. Tom explains that the demonic entity provides power for a steep price, and though this is a younger version of the hero since the film is set in 1959, the B.P.R.D. agent knows a thing or two about contracts with demons.
The local coven of witches, disciples of The Crooked Man, gets involved, while Reverend Nathaniel Watts (Joseph Marcell) lends his blessings to the good guys. As with every good Hellboy story, The Crooked Man culminates in a final battle in a decaying, gothic structure as threats both real and imagined engulf the heroes. It’s a satisfying, fairly comic-accurate story that has delighted most of the fans of the original series, but it is by no means perfect.
No Budget, No Problem
Right from the opening scene on board a train, you can tell that Hellboy: The Crooked Man will not be nearly as visually interesting as del Toro’s two films. Everything looks washed out, and if you didn’t know any better, you’d think it was a mid-2000’s SyFy original movie. To say that the film is carried by the strength of the dialogue, parts of which are word-for-word from Mignola’s comic, is an understatement, and that’s before The Crooked Man himself makes an appearance.
Martin Bassindale plays the monster of folklore with the right amount of creepiness, accented by the sounds of bones cracking and readjusting whenever he moves, but it’s hard not to imagine how much better he would have looked with anything resembling a budget behind the film. Shot on the cheap by director Brian Taylor (director of Crank, Gamer, and creator of the bonkers detective series, Happy), Hellboy: The Crooked Man has the look and feel of a fan film, in the best way possible, and was clearly a labor of love for the source material and not an attempt at another blockbuster. It was destined to be a streaming hit, and thankfully for fans of the B.P.R.D., that’s exactly what it is today.
Not only is Hellboy: The Crooked Man proof that a scaled-back superhero film can work if expectations are kept in check, it’s also a love letter to the off-beat supernatural gothic comic that never quite hit the mainstream. The film has more in common with Evil Dead than it does Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, but thanks to everyone giving it their all, it’s one of Hulu’s best movies, and if the streaming numbers impress the right people, there’s a chance it could even relaunch the dormant franchise.
Hellboy: The Crooked Man debuted at number one on Hulu, but it’s now available to rent on services like Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.
Entertainment
The 34-inch ultrawide Asus Rog Strix OLED gaming monitor is back at its lowest price ever — save $250 at Amazon
SAVE $250: The 34-inch ultrawide Asus Rog Strix OLED curved gaming monitor (XG34WCDG) is on sale at Amazon for $749, down from the normal price of $999. That’s a 25% discount that matches the lowest we’ve ever seen at Amazon.
$749
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Some of us spend plenty of time in front of the gaming monitor. That’s espeically true for anyone who works from home on the same monitor used for gaming. If you’ve toyed with the idea of getting a top-tier curved gaming monitor but have felt meh about the prices, there’s a special deal in store today.
As of April 28, the 34-inch ultrawide Asus Rog Strix OLED curved gaming monitor (XG34WCDG) is on sale at Amazon for $749, marked down from the standard price of $999. That works out to a 25% discount, shaving $250 off the price. It also matches the lowest we’ve ever seen at Amazon.
Asus meant business when designing the Rog Strix. For starers, it has a 34-inch OLED display with 3440 x 1440 resolution. Additional bragging rights come from the 175Hz refresh rate and 0.03 millisecond response time. Asus also added its Extreme Low Motion Blur (ELMB) technology to this model which is said to reduce motion blur and any ghosting effect.
The ASUS TUF Gaming F16 gaming laptop is down to a record-low price at Amazon — now $400 off
Combating a typical problem with gaming monitors, the Asus Rog is designed to detect when you’re away and automatically switch to a black screen when you’re gone, helping reduce the risk of burn-in. Asus also upped the cooling game on the Rog Strix with integrating a custom heatsink and internal airflow system.
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On top of the excellent stats, the Asus Rog comes with an ergonomic and adjustable stand. It can swivel, tilt, and adjust in height to match your exact preferences. You can also wall-mount the Asus Rog instead, if that’s a better fit for your space.
While it’s still at an all-time low price, give yourself the upgrade you deserve to the 34-inch ultrawide Asus Rog Strix OLED curved gaming monitor. It’s $250 off at Amazon for a limited time only.
Entertainment
New Samsung Galaxy smart glasses reportedly leaked
Like Apple and Google, Samsung is working on launching its first pair of smart glasses, and a new leak claims to provide a clear look at the design, price, and launch timeline.
Android Headlines published two new images of the Galaxy Smart Glasses, and the site says, “The design in the images you see is based on real-life pictures of a testing unit of these smart glasses.”
If this leak is correct, the Galaxy smart glasses will feature two 12MP cameras but no display. Android Headlines reports that the glasses, codenamed Jinju, will be announced in 2026 with a price between $379 and $449 in the United States.
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Unlike augmented reality glasses, which include a heads-up or built-in display, the Jinju smart glasses would feature dual 12MP cameras for content creation and AI features. Android Headlines reports that the Samsung Galaxy smart glasses will feature heavy Gemini integration, which is no surprise.
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Google announced its own upcoming AI smart glasses at Google I/O in 2025, and teased the new products in a blog post late last year. Both Google and Samsung’s glasses will run on the new Android XR platform, which also powers the Samsung Galaxy XR headset. Hopefully, we’ll learn more about Google’s glasses at the upcoming Google I/O 2026 event.
Android Headlines also claims that Samsung is working on a second pair of display smart glasses under the codename Haean, which will be announced in 2027 and cost up to $900. We’ve known about the Haean glasses since 2025, when the project first leaked. Jinju and Haean are the names of historic locations in South Korea and translate roughly to “pearl” (Jinju) and “coast” (Haean).
Based on these descriptions, the upcoming Samsung glasses would compete directly with Meta Ray-Ban and Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses, as well as the upcoming Google Android glasses. While the $799 Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses use a monocular waveguide display, the Samsung Haean glasses will reportedly use a micro-OLED display, per Android Headlines.
For fans of augmented reality and smart glasses, 2026 is shaping up to be a big year.
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Entertainment
Snap up the best deals on Monster portable speakers
SAVE UP TO 50%: As of April 28, get the Monster Cube 1 Portable Bluetooth Speaker for $19.98, down from its usual price of $39. That’s a discount of 50%. Alternatively, get the Monster Ripple Portable Bluetooth Shower Speaker for $24.97, down from its usual price of $39.99. That’s a discount of 38%.
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The warm weather and sunny days of summer are almost upon us, and if you plan on spending a lot of time outside, no doubt you’ll want to take your favorite music with you to share it. Or maybe you just want a way to listen to your tunes in the shower. That’s where a portable speaker comes in handy. Right now, Monster has you covered right now with two deals you won’t want to miss.
As of April 28, get the Monster Cube 1 Portable Bluetooth Speaker for $19.98, down from its usual price of $39. Alternatively, get the Monster Ripple Portable Bluetooth Shower Speaker for $24.97, down from its usual price of $39.99. That’s a discount of 38%.
The Monster Cube 1 is a waterproof option that’s perfect for listening at home, on the go, or anywhere you want to have some kicking tunes. It’s a compact speaker with 12W output that’s lightweight and portable. It boasts 20 hours of battery on a single charge, and it provides plenty of loud, satisfying audio no matter where you end up: camping, a pool party, or hanging out in the living room where you want to have portable audio.
Alternatively, the Monster Ripple is a circular shower speaker built to let you listen while scrubbing up for the day. With waterproof IPX8 protection, it’s a round, compact spaker with a 15W driver that can fill the entire room, not just the shower, with satisfying sound. It also has a lanyard to secure the speaker to wherever you want it in the shower to avoid any drops or accidents.
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If you’re ready to pick up a speaker for less right now, don’t sleep on these Monster deals, which will keep you tuned in throughout the season and longer with their portability and waterproof features.
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