'Hellboy' Reboot Casting Draws Whitewashing Controversy

The Hellboy reboot is the latest comic book movie to get snared in racial controversy. Fans (particularly in the Asian-American community) are in uproar due to the casting of Deadpool and Game of Thrones actor Ed Skrein, who is playing the comic book character of Ben Daimio, who is Japanese-American.

Deadline breaks down the situation, which saw Skrein post his excitement for the role on social media - only to find himself weathering a storm of angry responses.

After all the angry responses started, Hellboy creator Mike Mignola showed support for Skrein by tweeting:

Oddly enough, one of the loudest angry voices was Punisher: War Zone director Lexi Alexander, who tweeted:

Controversy over race-changes to popular geek culture characters has been a mounting trend in Hollywood. Whether it's casting traditionally white characters with actors of color or vice versa, the change usually sparks intense debate amongst fans and creators, alike.

In this case, the character of Ben Daimio has important cultural elements attached to his character, as his grandmother was an Imperial assassin for Japan during WWII. Like with the Hollywood adaptations of both Ghost In Shell and Death Note this year, it's being argued that characters with such strong cultural ties should be played by some of the many fine actors in the industry who are actually Asian.