Summary
- An unreleased script by Frank Darabont reveals a hidden connection between Hellboy and Indiana Jones.
- The crossover involves a reference to Hellboy's true name, "Anung Un Rama," in the unproduced fourth Indy movie script.
- Both franchises share pulp inspirations and a similar lineage, hinting at a potential crossover in the future.
Hellboy has quite a bit in common with Indiana Jones, so it’s somewhat surprising that the two characters have never crossed paths on any of their adventures. Yet there is a hidden crossover between the two franchises that fans never got to see, an unproduced movie that’s been hidden away on the far corners of the internet like some lost Ark of the Covenant.
The “crossover” takes place in Frank Darabont’s unproduced script for the proposed fourth Indy movie, then titled Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods. The story follows a similar arc to that seen in 2008’s Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, with Dr. Henry Jones, Jr. on the trail of crystal skulls.
Well into the movie, Indy discovers the missing Professor Oxley is being kept in a cage like an animal by the villainous Baron Peter Belasko. “To kiss her means death!” Oxley proclaims to Indy upon seeing him. “Death! Death! Death! The Gods will judge! Anung Un Rama!”
How “Anung Un Rama” Almost Made it Into the Fourth Indy Movie
Comic book fans will recognize “Anung Un Rama” as the true name of Hellboy before he was pulled to Earth and adopted by humanity. The name is spoken again in the film’s climactic scene, where Indy finds himself in an ancient temple with the remains of the alien beings from whence the crystal skulls came from. Oxley becomes a mouthpiece for the alien beings, shouting the name “Anung Un Rama” over and over again as a part of their unknown language.
In Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Oxley is played by John Hurt, who also played Hellboy's adopted father, Professor Broom, in Guillermo del Toro's two Hellboy movies.
Darabont is a comics fan, so the inclusion feels very much like a deliberate Easter egg for other fans to appreciate. Darabont details how he discovered the Hellboy comics in the introduction to the 2004 collection Hellboy: Odder Jobs, in which the Oscar-nominated filmmaker got to contribute his own Hellboy story, “The Brotherhood of the Gun.” Copies of Hellboy comics can even be seen on spinner racks in Darabont’s 2007 film The Mist, further establishing his bonafides as the self-proclaimed “World’s BiggestHellboy Fan.”
Pulp Inspirations
Establishing a connection between the Indiana Jones and Hellboy franchises makes sense, as the two share the same lineage and pulp inspirations. The trap-laden tombs holding secret treasure and dire warnings of supernatural threats prominently featured in both franchises were popular tropes in pulp magazines of the early twentieth century. Perhaps most importantly, both owe a debt to Doc Savage, a popular pulp hero of the thirties whose adventures inspired not just Indy and Hellboy, but heroes such as Superman, Batman and James Bond.
Frank Darabont was attached to write a Doc Savage movie in the late nineties.
Given that pedigree, it’s a shame that Darabont’s script for Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods was never filmed. With Hellboy having teamed up with the likes of Batman in the past, a crossover with the good Doctor Jones seems like a natural fit. Sadly, even though Marvel has published a truckload of Star Wars comics following the Disney acquisition of Lucasfilm, the Indiana Jones franchise has sadly been absent from the comic book page. Yet in spite of all the challenges such a pairing faces, perhaps Indiana Jones and Hellboy will officially cross paths some day. Stranger things have happened…
Source: "Introduction” by Frank Darabont, Hellboy: Odder Jobs
Indiana Jones
Created by George Lucas, Indiana Jones is an action-adventure multimedia franchise that began with the launch of its first film, Raiders of the Lost Ark, in 1981. The series follows Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones, Jr., an archaeologist who adventures across the world with various friends as he faces off against the likes of Nazis and other groups bent on collecting ancient artifacts of power. Seeking to preserve history, Jones races against his incidental foes to stop them from conquering - or destroying- the world.
