It seems that the new Hellboy reboot may have found its Major Ben Daimio after Ed Skrein left the film last month, with Daniel Dae Kim in talks to take on the role, acoording to The Hollywood Reporter.
Kim, best known for his work on Hawaii Five-0, Lost and films such as Hulk and Spider-Man 2, is in negotiations with Millenium and Lionsgate to over the role for the new film. Skrein, who had been cast in the role, stepped down a few days later after an outcry over the Asian-American character being portrayed by a white actor.
After the outcry, Skrein decided to move away from the project with a statement that read:
“Representation of ethnic diversity is important, especially to me as I have a mixed heritage family,”
“It is clear that representing this character in a culturally accurate way holds significance for people, and that to neglect this responsibility would continue a worrying tendency to obscure ethnic minority stories and voice in the Arts. I feel it is important to honor and respect that,”
Daimio is described by the trade as “a rugged military member of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense who, due to a supernatural encounter, can turn into a jaguar when angered or in pain. The character is Japanese-American in the Hellboy comics by creator Mike Mignola.
The new film, a reboot of the previous two films which starred Ron Perlman in the lead and Guillermo del Toro at the helm, is being directed by Neil Marshall (The Descent, Game of Thrones) and stars David Harbour (Stranger Things, Suicide Squad) in the lead role. Ian McShane (John Wick 2), Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil), Sasha Lane (American Honey) and Penelope Mitchell (The Vampire Diaries) are part of the supporting cast and the film is set to be released in 2018.
