Movies

Get Your First Look At David Harbour As Hellboy

Dark Horse Comics
By AJ Caulfield

The new Hellboy has finally risen. 

Lionsgate took to Twitter to drop a massive movie bombshell on us all: the very first look at Stranger Things star David Harbour as Hellboy for the upcoming reboot, based on character creator Mike Mignola's graphic novel series. 

Mignola and Harbour themselves make the whole situation even more exciting, with the creator reposting the Lionsgate-posted image and the actor tweeting out a black-and-white snap of the demonic not-so-superhero in a different position. Unfortunately, Harbour's original tweet has since been deleted, but we managed to acquire a screenshot of it before it was removed. 

The image Lionsgate and Mignola shared shows Harbour in all his red Hellboy glory, standing shirtless with his classic shorn horns, intimidating expression, and strong jaw out on full display. And on first glance, he looks alarmingly similar to previous Hellboy actor Ron Perlman, whom Harbour replaces for the impending refresh. This is due in large part to former director Guillermo del Toro's vision, Perlman's formidable on-screen presence, and the makeup artists that perfected the Hellboy look in the previous two films, giving the creatives behind the reboot a solid foundation from which they could work. That said, Harbour's Big Red does appear to have larger horn stumps, a big longer hair (though it's still quite scraggly and the same deep black hue), and a slightly more muscular physicality. 

The snap Harbour shared on his Twitter account shows the character wearing his signature coat and standing at the bottom of a set of stairs. Despite the new angle and new attire from the previous photo, this one still features Hellboy wearing a half-scowl on his face and commanding the attention of the room. "Please allow to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste," Harbour captioned the image. 

Take a look at both photos at the bottom of the article. 

Directed by The Descent helmer Neil Marshall, the Hellboy reboot is billed as a gritty take on the Hellboy comic story, intended to be more mature than the del Toro-directed films of the mid-2000s. Harbour previously stated that Hellboy (the reboot's official title) will deviate from the cliches of the modern superhero movie genre. 

"[Hellboy] is a whole new thing. I'd always been a fan of the comics and there's a darker tone to it and I think in the climate we have now there's kind of... a desire for more of that," said Harbour. "The script is good and this guy Neil Marshall is directing who's really good and the aesthetic is great. So often, the superhero movies can be really fun and I want this to be really fun, but I also want it to be more of a character piece and more about this dude's struggle. I think it could be interesting."

The film also stars Underworld actress Milla Jovovich as the Blood Queen, the sinister sorceress antagonist whose sole desire is to destroy humanity; American Gods actor Ian McShane as Professor Trevor "Broom" Bruttenholm, Hellboy's adoptive father; and former Hawaii Five-O star Daniel Dae Kim as Major Ben Daimio, a military member of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Kim replaces Game of Thrones actor Ed Skrein, who was initially cast as Ben Daimio before exiting amidst allegations that the film had whitewashed the character. 

As we wait to learn more about the new Hellboy, take a look at these reboots that actually worked in a big way.

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