Whether it’s the omnipresent Mr. Wednesday on American Gods or Winston, owner of The Contential (John Wick HQ), Ian McShane typically brings with him a sense of gravitas and grandeur that few other actors can replicate.
It’s the reason why his Brother Ray resonated with Game of Thrones viewers, despite being killed off after only one episode – such is the brutal, unforgiving nature of Westeros.
But with Hellboy, he’ll be bringing his own twist to Professor Broom (AKA Trevor Bruttenholm), founder of Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense and the adoptive father of Hellboy himself. Originally portrayed by the late, great John Hurt across Guillermo del Toro’s films, Ian McShane spoke to Fandom about how his own particular rendition of Broom differs from what has come before.
You don’t start with the birth of Hellboy… but the relationship between [Hellboy and Broom] is quite crusty. Does he trust his father? [Hellboy asks], ‘Why didn’t you kill me? I’m a monster.’ It’s a little bit of a psychological battle against Hellboy. There’s one important moment in [the film] when [Hellboy] sort of thinks he’s fighting his own people, the outsiders. So, he’s being used by the insiders, which is me, if you like.
Fittingly, the actor then goes on to describe his performance as a “slight homage to John [Hurt],” which ought to please fans of Guillermo del Toro’s weird, wacky originals.
Indeed, it was those same fans who felt robbed when del Toro and Ron Perlman walked away from the Hellboy franchise. After years of false starts and scheduling issues, the creative duo ultimately decided to wave the white flag on Hellboy 3, allowing Lionsgate and Neil Marshall to swoop in and foster an entirely new and seemingly more mature version of the horned demon.
Also starring David Harbour (Stranger Things) and Milla Jovovich as Hellboy and the Blood Queen, respectively, look for Marshall’s redo to light up theaters on January 11th, 2019.
