The actor who frustrated and delighted audiences as Francis Freeman, the main antagonist in 2016’s R-rated superhero action-comedy Deadpool, will take his talents to the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense in Hellboy. Skrein has been cast as Benjamin Daimio in the film, a supernaturally-powered agent working for the BPRD.
In the comics, Daimio possesses the power to turn into a jaguar after, as a member of the United States Marine Corps, he was sent to the Bolivian Jungle to rescue a group of nuns being held hostage, only to come face-to-face with their captors: a jaguar god-worshipping cult. Daimio did battle with the cult’s deity and lost. Three days after being declared dead, he awoke only to find that he can turn into a jaguar in certain circumstances.
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Skrein is just the most recent casting announcement from the team behind the Hellboy reboot. Ian McShane was recently announced to play Hellboy’s adoptive father, Professor Broom. Sasha Lane will play Alice Monaghan, a woman Hellboy rescued from being kidnapped by fairies. Milla Jovovich will play the film’s antagonist, the Blood Queen.
Hellboy is an adaptation of Mike Mignola’s comic book series by the same name, which has expanded to include numerous spinoffs like Lobster Johnson and Abe Sapien. The film looks to reboot the Hellboy film franchise started by director Guillermo del Toro in 2004.
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Debuting in theaters in 2018, Hellboy will be directed by Neil Marshall and star David Harbour as Hellboy, Ian McShane as Trevor Bruttenholm, Milla Jovovich as the Blood Queen and Sasha Lane as Alice Monaghan.