David Harbour Is Mixing In Some Shakespearean Elements To His Version Of Hellboy

Hellboy fans might have expressed a bit of skepticism after Millenium announced that it was working on a reboot with David Harbour as its new Harbinger of the Apocalypse, but ever since the studio released its first look photo of the Stranger Things star as Hellboy, the tide's been slowly turning over.

There's a lot of anticipation over what Harbour's going to bring to the character, and while some fans are still aching over the fact that Ron Perlman won't get to reprise his role as Hellboy, everyone's eager to take a look at the new face of the Son of the Fallen.

Now, in a new interview with The Independent, Harbour decides to let fans know that aside from a new face, he'll also be bringing some Shakespearean drama to the character as Hellboy struggles with all his inner demons.

"Comic books of our age are modern day mythos, similar to Agamemnon and those Greek legends. My biggest influence has always been Shakespeare. I have always loved taking stories — as Shakespeare did with something like Romeo and Juliet — these simple stories and making them very complex, with language and ideas. That's what I would love to do with the comic book world too, and I think Hellboy's a great opportunity for that," Harbour explains.

It's hard to struggle with one's inner nature, and though Hellboy's always wanted to be a "good guy and fight evil," there's no denying that he's still made to bring the apocalypse.

"On a surface level, he's an adopted kid from hell. He was meant to bring about the apocalypse. Yet, he just wants to be a good guy and fight evil. But he has this destiny," the actor elaborates further. "That struggle is very Hamlet-esque, even having tones of Coriolanus, where you have this guy who cannot understand his own true nature. Those levels of complexity, if we can bring that to this movie, which we're trying to do, I think will be really rich."

Hellboy fans who've read the comics are definitely going to love Harbour's version of the character. There's always been something Shakespearean about the comic book series, and it really sounds like the Harbour is trying his best to be faithful to the film's source material.

Hellboy hits cinemas sometime in 2018.

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