Hellboy II: The Golden Army is a 2008 American superhero film based on the Dark Horse Comics character of the same name, created by Mike Mignola. Produced by Universal Pictures, Relativity Media, Lawrence Gordon/Lloyd Levin Productions, and Dark Horse Entertainment, and distributed by Universal, it is a sequel to Hellboy (2004) and is the second live-action film in the franchise. Directed and written by Guillermo del Toro from a story he co-wrote with Mignola, the film stars Ron Perlman as Hellboy, alongside Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Jeffrey Tambor, and John Hurt. In the film, Hellboy and the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense must battle a mythical prince who plans to reclaim the world for his magical kindred.