Fans have questioned the move to have Stranger Things star David Harbour replace Ron Perlman in the upcoming Hellboy reboot, Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen. But from the picture that was released earlier today, look wise, fans have nothing to worry about if they think the actor will sully the image of Hellboy.
If anything Harbour’s rendition of the character looks exactly like a young Ron Perlman. The actor has even seemingly shed his sheriff’s gut – though I’m sure there is at least a touch of photo manipulation within the image – and sports a muscular figure.
The photo shows that Harbours portrayal will be far less cartoonish as well, sporting more lifelike, realistic features. Alongside defined eyes and a unique haircut, Red’s muscles are far more defined and reinforce his imposing nature, look wise, more so than the previous attempt.
A side by side comparison of the two reveals the somewhat plastic look of the character before, which may have looked fine at the time. The skin tone on the upcoming take on the character looks far more natural and could pass as skin much better than the original.
In an interview with Cinemablend, Harbour explained the importance of his characters look for the reboot.
“I think Hellboy has a certain psycho dynamic, where occasionally he has to prove that he is a lion, has to roar, and i think he struggles with his own masculinity,” he said. “But I don’t think he needs that as much as maybe those other movies. I have a bit of a different take on his capability or his slickness. I sort of think that for me he is a little less skilled at constructing that persona.
Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen will star David Harbour and will be directed by Neil Marshall. No release date has been set, but a tentative date of 2018 has been revealed as the current goal.