The Storyline (SPOILERS) - The story concerns two warring factions of elves who live in the vast underworld beneath our feet, one led by Princess Nuala, the other by her twin, the evil Prince Nuada. When a piece of a magic crown said to give its owner power over a mythic Golden Army goes up for auction in the surface world, Prince Nuada comes above ground and smack into Hellboy and the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Another major storyline follows Abe Sapien, Hellboy's seaman sidekick, and his developing relationship with the elf princess. If, as he hopes, del Toro gets to finish his trilogy, he has said just as The Golden Army is "about" Abe, the third movie will focus on a new character, Johann Kraus, a German psychic-turned-ectoplasmic blob, encased in a glass-headed containment suit. - Film.com, 2/21/08 [link] 
When we finished the first, we talked about it for a long time and I came up with an idea that was very different from this one. That is the one we pitched to Revolution. The character story was the same, but the anecdote wasn't the Golden Army but the four titans in the four corners of the Earth. Wind, Water, Fire and Earth. And a prince wanted to awaken the four titans of the Earth. However, this idea felt to me like a more magical idea. The title Golden Army sounded great and I thought, "What could the Golden Army be?" And then when I thought about the princess' father having constructed them eons before and him wanting them to conquer the world, it sounded immediately great and that is what we pitched. - IESB.net, 2/4/08 [link]
The role of Abe Sapien moves from the background in the first film to the forefront in part 2. Jones tells us that Sapien shares the screen with counterparts Hellboy and Liz Sherman in nearly every scene. The other big change for the character and Doug personally is that Jones’ actual voice will be heard as the amphibious Mr. Sapien. The studio made the decision during post-production of the first film to replace Jones’ voice with that of David Hyde Pierce, but now Jones will be both seen and heard in Hellboy II. “In the first Hellboy, you got to know him pretty well, but he was kind of a one-note character. He was the intelligent guy, he was kind of a sidekick, a member of the team. He could read four books at one time, he was a clairvoyant. It was a nice setup. In this movie, you get to know Abe on so many more levels. You will be laughing for Abe, crying for Abe, you’ll be routing him on… You’ll see so much.” - Reelz Channel [link]
Among the scenes filming on the evening of Oct. 25 was an interchange between Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) and the Angel of Death, one of three characters portrayed by Doug Jones in the film. Jones has also been tapped for a character called the Chamberlain and will reprise the role of the amphibious B.P.R.D. agent Abe Sapien. Abe's voice was provided by David Hyde Pierce in the first film, but Jones confirmed that his own voice will be heard in the sequel.
Following that scene, director Guillermo del Toro and his crew moved outdoors to a large set dressed as a New York city block, where they prepared for an action sequence involving Hellboy (Ron Perlman). The tour of the set also included a visit to the creature shop and the art department, where drawings and models of the various locations in the film were on display. - 10/29/07, Sci Fi Wire [link]
I’m constantly amazed at what del Toro’s doing. The film really looks two or three times bigger than the first picture. And since he doesn’t have two or three times as much money, I have no idea how he’s doing it. But everything looks better. The funny stuff is funnier; the creepy stuff is creepier. It’s just a beautiful-looking movie. It’s very odd, but it’s a beautiful movie. 8/28/07, Mike Mignola talking to Wizard [link]
Despite how difficult it has been to get this sequel off the ground, del Toro and company are already looking at setting up a third chapter with the character of Johann, who will be played by John Alexander (body) and Tomas Kretschmann (voice). Johann is another member of Hellboy’s Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense and appears as a disembodied ectoplasmic spirit in a containment suit. The information on Deltorofilms.com specifically says Kretschmann won’t appear as Johann, only providing the voice, as Johann’s past is being saved for a potential third movie. - 6/7/07, Cinema Blend [link]
In February 2007, Mignola described the story he had developed with del Toro as one that focused on folklore and fairy tales, rather than the more pulp elements of the first film: "It's not Nazis, machines and mad scientists but the old gods and characters who have been kind of shoved out of our world. I kind of equate it to the whole American Indiansituation. The Indians were shoved onto reservations. You had your old, wise Indians who said, "You know, this is the way it is. We can't fight anymore. We just have to accept our fate." You then have your Geronimo character saying, "Or we could just kill the White Man." That's kind of the situation we have in the film. We have our elfcharacters resigning to the way things are and then there's one saying, "Or we could take the world back." The main difference is - what if the Indians had a nuclear warhead? The elves have their equivalent of the weapon that is too terrible to use. What if this guy decided to use it?"
