''Helstrom'' is an American television series created by

Paul Zbyszewski Paul Zbyszewski is an American television writer and producer. He has worked in both capacities on the series ''Lost'' and ''Day Break'', and he is the creator of ''Day Break''. He also wrote the feature film '' After the Sunset''. Career Zbyszew ...

for the streaming service Hulu, based on the

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

characters

Daimon Daimon or Daemon ( Ancient Greek: , "god", "godlike", "power", "fate") originally referred to a lesser deity or guiding spirit such as the daimons of ancient Greek religion and mythology and of later Hellenistic religion and philosophy. The wor ...

and

Satana Hellstrom Satana Hellstrom is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Roy Thomas and John Romita Sr., she first appeared in '' Vampire Tales'' #2 (October 1973). Satana belongs to the subspecies of magi ...

. The series is produced by

Marvel Television Marvel Television was an American television production company responsible for live-action and animated (through Marvel Animation) television shows and direct-to-DVD series based on characters from Marvel Comics. The division was based at affi ...

and

ABC Signature Studios ABC Signature is an American television production studio that is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a division of Walt Disney Television, which is part of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Company. ...

, with Zbyszewski serving as showrunner. Tom Austen and

Sydney Lemmon Sydney Noël Lemmon (born August 10, 1990) is an American actress. Lemmon graduated from Yale School of Drama at Yale University. She stars as Ana Helstrom in the Hulu series '' Helstrom''. She has appeared in the HBO series ''Succession''. Le ...

respectively star as Daimon and Ana Helstrom, the children of a powerful serial killer, who hunt the worst of humanity.

Elizabeth Marvel Elizabeth Marvel (born November 27, 1969) is an American actress. Her most prominent roles include Det. Nancy Parras on ''The District'', Solicitor General Heather Dunbar on ''House of Cards'', and President Elizabeth Keane on ''Homeland''. Fil ...

Robert Wisdom Robert Ray Wisdom (born September 14, 1953) is an American actor, best known for his roles as Howard "Bunny" Colvin in '' The Wire,'' Norman "Lechero" St. John in ''Prison Break'', and Harold Conway in the 2021 Hulu movie ''Vacation Friends''. ...

, June Carryl, Ariana Guerra, and Alain Uy also star. ''Helstrom'' was officially announced with a series order at Hulu in May 2019, planned as the first series in Marvel Television's

Adventure into Fear ''Adventure into Fear'' is an American horror comic book series published by Marvel Comics from cover dates November 1970 through December 1975, for 31 issues. This is its trademarked cover title for all but its first nine issues, though the ser ...

franchise, which would exist within the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...

(MCU) but would not cross over with the films or other television series of the franchise. However, upon its release, Zbyszewski stated that ''Helstrom'' was not part of the MCU. Filming took place in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

from October 2019 until March 2020. Oversight of the series was moved to Marvel Studios in December 2019 when Marvel Television was folded into that company. ''Helstrom'' was released on Hulu on October 16, 2020, and consists of 10 episodes. It was met with largely negative reviews, feeling the characters and plot were uninteresting, though the series' visual effects were considered impressive. ''Helstrom'' was canceled on December 14, 2020.

Premise

and Ana Helstrom, the children of a serial killer, hunt the worst of humanity.

Cast and characters

Main

* Tom Austen as Daimon Helstrom: An ethics professor who hopes to save those close to him from demons. Nolan Hupp portrays young Daimon. *

as Ana Helstrom: Daimon's sister, who runs an auction house as a cover while hunting people who hurt others. Erica Tremblay portrays young Ana. *

as Victoria Helstrom / Mother / Lily / Kthara: Daimon and Ana's mother, who has been institutionalized for twenty years. *

as Henry / Caretaker: A guardian of the occult who fights demons. * Ariana Guerra as Gabriella Rosetti: An agent of the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

who aids Daimon and Hastings. * June Carryl as Louise Hastings: Head of the psychiatric hospital where Victoria is institutionalized. * Alain Uy as Chris Yen: Ana's auction house business partner and surrogate brother.

Recurring

Daniel Cudmore Daniel Cudmore (born January 20, 1981) is a Canadian actor and stuntman. He is perhaps best known for his roles as the superhero Peter Rasputin / Colossus in the ''X-Men'' film series, and as the Volturi Felix in ''The Twilight Saga'' film se ...

as Keith Spivey / Basar: A nurse at the psychiatric hospital where Victoria is institutionalized. *

Deborah Van Valkenburgh Deborah Gaye Van Valkenburgh (born August 29, 1952) is an American actress best known for her screen debut as Mercy in the 1979 cult film '' The Warriors'', and her role as Jackie Rush for five seasons (1980–1985) on the television situation ...

as Esther Smith: The leader of the Blood and Caretaker's handler. *

David Meunier David Meunier (born David Miller; February 5, 1973) is an American actor. Early life Meunier was born in Woodburn, Oregon. He played football in high school, and a teammate convinced him to try out for a school production of ''Guys and Dolls''. ...

as Finn Miller: A member of the Blood. * Trevor Roberts as Joshua Crow / Raum: A priest who is a victim of demon possession. * Hamza Fouad as Derrick Jackson: A police officer and Yen's boyfriend.

Guests

Sandy Robson Sandy Wayne Robson (born November 6, 1973) is a Canadian actor, writer, director, and editor. Robson was born in Peterborough, Ontario and raised in Toronto. He had his writing and directorial debut with his 2015 feature film ''Skyquake''. Robson ...

as Alex Tilden: A trucker possessed by Magoth. * Shayn Walker as Ellis: One of Saint Teresa's security guards. * Zachary S. Williams as Bryce: One of Magoth's vessels. * Hiro Kanagawa as Sean Okamoto: A priest and acquaintance of Gabriella. *

Camille Sullivan Camille Sullivan (born July 7, 1975) is a Canadian actress. She has starred in various films and television series. Among her notable television appearances are ''Rookie Blue'', ''Da Vinci's Inquest'', ''Intelligence'' and '' Shattered''. She won ...

as Zoe and Aubree Richards: Twins who were affected by Daimon and Ana's father. *

Fiona Dourif Fiona Christianne Dourif (born October 30, 1981) is an American actress and producer. She is known for her role as Bart Curlish in BBC America's ''Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency'' and as the young Diane Jones in Dustin Lance Black's ''W ...

as Kthara: The demon that possesses Victoria. *

Tom Everett Tom Everett (born October 21, 1948) is an American actor known for his performances in political films such as ''Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft ...

as Terrazi: The archbishop that Hastings answers to. * Tarun Keram as Lee: Esther's main subordinate. *

Mitch Pileggi Mitch Pileggi (born April 5, 1952) is an American actor. He played Horace Pinker in '' Shocker'', Walter Skinner on ''The X-Files'', Colonel Steven Caldwell on ''Stargate Atlantis'', Ernest Darby in ''Sons of Anarchy'', and Harris Ryland in the ...

as Marduk Helstrom: A serial killer and the father of Daimon and Ana.

Episodes

Production

Development

In May 2019, Hulu ordered ''Marvel's Helstrom'' to series, based on the

characters

and

; their names are Daimon and Ana Helstrom in the series.

, who previously served as an executive producer on Marvel's ABC series ''

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ''Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' is an American television series created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen for ABC, based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, an ...

'', was set as showrunner and executive producer of ''Helstrom'' alongside

head

Jeph Loeb Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III () is an American film and television writer, producer and comic book writer. Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series ''Smallville'' and ''Lost'', writer for the films '' Commando'' and ''Teen Wolf'', and a writer and ...

and Karim Zreik.

and

were set to co-produce ''Helstrom''. Zbyszewski said the series would be adding "scares" to the Marvel formula of "heart, humor, and action", and that he would use the Helstroms' story to "dissect some of our deepest fears", with Loeb saying the series is moving into a new, "chilling" corner of the Marvel Universe. The series consists of 10 episodes. In December 2019, Marvel Television was folded into Marvel Studios, with some executives from Marvel Television moving over to Marvel Studios to oversee the completion of production on ''Helstrom'', including Zreik. In April 2020, Marvel terminated Zbyszewski's overall deal with them, in part because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, but Zbyszewski continued post-production work on the series. By July, the series was no longer officially titled ''Marvel's Helstrom'', with

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

changing the title to simply ''Helstrom'' in order to distance the Marvel brand from the series' horror-based content, not wanting viewers to "stumble upon the show while looking for something in the tone" of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. The Marvel logo is also not featured before each episode as was the case with Marvel Television's other series, with Zbyszewski saying this was "a way of telling the audience that this is something different" from the other Marvel series. On December 14, 2020, Hulu canceled the series, making it the final live-action Marvel series produced through Marvel Television, following its absorption back into Marvel Studios.

Casting

Marvel announced the series' cast at the start of production in October 2019: Tom Austen and

star as Daimon and Ana Helstrom, with

as their mother Victoria,

Caretaker Caretaker may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Caretaker'' (film), a 1963 adaptation of the play ''The Caretaker'' * '' The Caretakers'', a 1963 American film set in a mental hospital * Caretaker, a character in the 1974 film '' ...

, June Carryl as Dr. Louise Hastings, Ariana Guerra as Gabriella Rosetti, and Alain Uy as Chris Yen.

and

were cast in the recurring roles as Nurse Keith Spivey and Finn Miller, respectively in November.

Filming

Production on the series began on October 7, 2019, in

, under the

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

''Omens''. Filming wrapped on March 14, 2020.

Music

Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans were revealed to be the composers for the series in October 2020.

Relationship to the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Hulu and Marvel announced both ''Helstrom'' and a

Ghost Rider Ghost Rider is the name of multiple antiheroes and superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Phantom Rider. The first s ...

series in May 2019, referring to them as the cornerstone of the "Spirits of Vengeance" and intending on them being interconnected in a similar fashion to

Marvel's Netflix television series Marvel's Netflix television series are a set of interconnected American television series created for the streaming service Netflix, based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. Produced by Marvel Television and ABC Studios ...

. Marvel revealed that the two series would exist within the Marvel Cinematic Universe but would not cross over with the films or other television series of the franchise. In August, Loeb revealed that the fear-based series at Hulu were being collectively referred to as

. Hulu was no longer moving forward with ''Ghost Rider'' by the end of September, but other Adventure into Fear series were still planned. Development on any further series was cancelled in December 2019 when Marvel Television was shut down. Roxxon Corporation, a company from the Marvel Comics that has been featured throughout the MCU, is referenced in the series. Josh Bell of ''

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

'' added that outside of the Roxxon inclusions, the series "bears essentially no connection to the Marvel Cinematic Universe" films or the other Marvel Television series. Regarding the series' place relative to the MCU, Zbyszewski explained ''Helstrom'' is "siloed off" in part because of it being a "darker-themed show", further adding that the series was "not tied to the MCU" and "our own separate thing". Zbyszewski called it "freeing" not being a part of the MCU or its canon, instead "hav ngjust this little pocket of the universe". Zbyszewski also stated that

Easter eggs Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tra ...

in the series hinted at the cancelled Adventure into Fear franchise.

Marketing

Zbyszewski and the series' cast took part in a panel for the series during the virtual convention Comic-Con@Home in July 2020, where the first teaser for the series was released. An official trailer was released on September 23. Ben Pearson of '' /Film'' said the series "looks a lot like something that would have aired on

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

circa 2006. Which, sadly, means it looks kinda terrible". Though he felt there were good actors in ''Helstrom'', he added that the trailer made the series look "super cheap" and "bland". As well, he noted there were hardly any indications it was a Marvel series, and compared it to the film '' The New Mutants'', both "holdover from... different era –''New Mutants'' with the

acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney The acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney was announced on December 14, 2017, and was completed on March 20, 2019. Among other key assets, the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by the Walt Disney Company included the 20th Century Fox film and ...

and ''Helstrom'' with Marvel Television being dissolved. Hulu released the first 10 minutes of the series at the

New York Comic Con The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. History The New York Comic Con is a ...

online panel held in October the same year.

Release

''Helstrom'' was released on Hulu on October 16, 2020, as part of Hulu's "Huluween" programming block, consisting of 10 episodes. Internationally, the series premiered on

Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...

under the dedicated streaming hub Star as an

original series Original programming (also called originals or original programs, and subcategorized as "original series", "original movies", "original documentaries" and "original specials") is a term used for in-house television, film or web series productions ...

, on February 23, 2021.

Reception

Critical response

For the series, review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported an approval rating of 27% based on 26 reviews, with an average rating of 5/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "''Helstrom'' strong visual effects can't save it from the fact that its characters simply aren't interesting enough to overcome their familiar setting."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 40 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". In his review, Bell from ''

'' stated ''Helstrom'' "seems to have been completed largely out of contractual obligation" calling it "a generic, dull supernatural drama with a few names that may sound familiar to dedicated comics fans". Bell pointed out the pacing issues the series faced, comparing it to Marvel Television's other streaming series that also faced similar issues, and felt the series had a dull color palette. As well, ''Helstrom'' "doesn’t much resemble a superhero story, and aside from an occasional swear word and a bit of blood, it could be a mid-level CW supernatural drama about photogenic people going after standard-issue demons." He enjoyed Lemmon as Ana Helstrom, since she was "more charismatic than Daimon" and "the most prominent LGBTQ character in any Marvel TV series to date", but he was disappointed she would not become a fully realized version of her comic counterpart. Because the series was once meant to be part of the planned Adventure into Fear, Bell concluded ''Helstrom'' is "in an uninspired middle ground, and it seems likely to end up as nothing more than a footnote in the history of the MCU". Charles Pulliam-Moore at ''

io9 ''io9'' is part of Gizmodo media since 2015, and it began as blog launched in 2008 by Gawker Media. The site initially focused on the subjects of science fiction, fantasy, futurism, science, technology and related areas but over the years has ...

'' said, "In another universe, the show’s focus on shadowy magics and ugly family drama might make it one of Marvel’s standouts, but here the series barely manages to make a strong argument in defense of its own existence." He added it was "telling" that Marvel's name was hardly featured in the series' marketing and the content of the series made it seem like this was by design". Sadie Gennis at ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

'' however found ''Helstrom'' the "perfect TV cocktail for right now ... with compelling mythology and morally complicated characters," recommending it as "a horror binge that goes down easy".

Accolades

References

External links

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