David Harbour Has Wrapped Production On ‘Hellboy’

Could production on the Hellboy reboot already be finished and headed into post? It seems likely, after the film’s star, David Harbour, revealed during an interview with Variety that he has already wrapped on the film.

The as-yet-untitled Hellboy film was originally to be titled Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen, but that subtitle was dropped almost immediately. Harbour, best known for his work in the Netflix smash Stranger Things, talked about production during a conversation about his “dad bod.”

“It was hard,” he joked. “I’m 40 years old, and I’m running around punching giants.”

The Hellboy reboot is the third live-action feature film based on the character, following a pair of fan-favorites starring Ron Perlman and directed by Guillermo del Toro. The pair also teamed on a pair of animated feature films.

“It’s unique and odd.” Harbour explained in a recent podcast interview. “There are things that I’m gonna do that are different. Hellboy is the same character from the comics and from what Ron did, there are certain things that are the same thing, but I do think that—I don’t know, there’s a different approach because I sort of highlight different things, I think, than Ron does.”

According to Harbour, one element of that approach will be the sort of hyper-masculine identity that the character has.

“Ron sort of embraces this machismo in himself and in Hellboy, and I really like it and it’s super fun and it’s a super fun performance. But I think Hellboy has a certain psycho dynamic, where occasionally he has to prove that he’s the lion, has to roar, and I think he struggles with his own masculinity. 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’s a little less skilled at constructing that persona.”

Hellboy first appeared in comics in 1993; the concept is that the title character is a demon summoned by the Nazis but raised by Americans to become a force for good, helping defend the Earth from threats both human and supernatural.

Mike Mignola, who created Hellboy, has built a sprawling and interconnected universe of Dark Horse Comics characters around the character and his world.

The Harbour-led Hellboy reboot — which will also feature performances from Ian McShane, Milla Jovovich, and Daniel Dae Kim — is expected to be be rated R and is reportedly targeting a January 2019 release.