It's hard to believe it, but a new Hellboy project is becoming more of a reality as time goes on. Even better is the fact that the Neil Marshall directed film is pulling in a fantastic cast, with genre favorites like Ian McShane, Milla Jovovich, and David K. Harbour all playing important parts in Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen. But hold on, because a new fan favorite character is joining the B.P.R.D., and he's being played by Deadpool's Ed Skrein. Prepare for the big screen debut of Major Ben Daimio.
After a run that's included The Transporter Reloaded, and Game of Thrones, as well as his role in the upcoming Robert Rodriguez adaptation of Alita: Battle Angel, Skrein has landed himself another big ticket role with Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen. This is also a fantastic get for Marshall and his team, as it rounds out a cast that sees McShane as Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, Jovovich as the titular Blood Queen, and Harbour as Hellboy himself. With Major Ben Daimio, Ed Skrein will return to playing one of the good guys, at least for the most part.
Introduced in 2004's B.P.R.D.: The Dead, Major Daimio was a U.S. Marine who was killed in the line of duty, but through a supernatural twist of fate, he was revived as a were-jaguar. Eventually joining the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, Major Ben would become a vital and interesting part to the team that also employs Hellboy, Abe Sapien, and Liz Sherman. Of course, there's a small problem: the nationality of the character is Japanese / American, and Ed Skrein is English.
Seeing as Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen is a new introduction to the universe of the B.P.R.D., there is a chance that the character could be reinvented in a way that helps alter the character to fit Skrein's casting. Potential pitfalls aside, his addition is rather interesting, considering that with this new reboot of Hellboy the audience will obviously need a surrogate to introduce them to the world of the Bureau and Hellboy himself. If this was another sequel in the Guillermo del Toro run, it'd be simple to read the audience into that world. But with a hard-R rated horror take, everything is starting from square one, and will require a fresh pair of eyes.
With equal parts familiar characters and those brand new to the big screen, Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen is set to bring fans of the comics back to the table, while tempting a new swath of fans to enjoy Mike Mingola's beloved creation. And if The Hollywood Reporter's announcement of Ed Skrein's casting is any indication, we just might see some more action put into the world of those that go bump in the night, and those that bump back.
Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen will debut at some point in 2018, so as soon as we have any further information, we'll report back.
