UPDATE: A second photo has now been revealed and can be seen in the gallery below.
Big Red has been resurrected in style.
Lionsgate and Millennium have today summoned forth our first official look at David Harbour as Hellboy, and it’s a doozy. The Stranger Things fan-favorite is placed front and center for this devilish character portrait, which finds its way to us via Lionsgate’s newly-launched Twitter account. It’ll likely become a bustling source for all things Hellboy over the coming weeks and months, particularly once Neil Marshall’s “dark” and “gruesome” reboot begins shooting across parts of England and Bulgaria from September onwards.
With a late 2018 release in its sights, we understand Marshall’s franchise revival will order Hellboy across the pond, where he “must defeat Nimue, Merlin’s consort and the Blood Queen. But their battle will bring about the end of the world, a fate he desperately tries to turn away.”
Dark and difficult times lie ahead for our cigar-chomping protagonist, then, but judging by today’s first look, we pity any fool that dares stand in Hellboy’s path – human or otherwise.
Brought to life by Milla Jovovich of Resident Evil fame, the Blood Queen will no doubt pose a formidable threat to the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, and we’re excited to see how Lionsgate’s VFX team handle such an iconic character. Other high-profile cast members include Ian McShane as Trevor Bruttenholm, Hellboy’s adoptive father, Sasha Lane, Penelope Mitchell and, crucially, not Ed Skrein, who vacated the role of Major Ben Daimio following cries of whitewashing. It’s since been offered to Daniel Dae Kim.
Ready to bear witness to the Blood Queen’s rise? Neil Marshall’s star-studded Hellboy reboot is expected to storm into theaters late next year, and after conjuring up our first peek at Harbour’s gruff and scarred demon, it looks like Lionsgate is on the verge of delivering the adaptation fans have been crying out for.
