Original Hellboy Actor Ron Perlman Says The Reboot Is Still An Open Wound For Him

It's been quite a while since David Harbour was cast as the new Hellboy for Millenium's upcoming reboot, but it looks like original unwilling Harbinger of the Apocalypse, Ron Perlman, still isn't over the franchise's decision to move on without him and director Guillermo del Torro.

Speaking in an interview with Collider, Perlman opens up about his feelings towards the new Hellboy reboot, admitting that Millennium's decision to take in a new director and new actor for its upcoming film still feels very much like an "open wound" to him.

Perlman had played Hellboy in both of del Torro's Hellboy movies, first appearing as the Right Hand of Doom in Hellboy in 2004 and then reprising his role in the film's sequel, The Golden Army.

"I felt like we owed the fans closure, and there were too many people moving in too many other directions and I just couldn't pull it off," Perlman told the publication. "So if you ask me about it, it's kind of still an open wound."

While fans have begun accepting Harbour as their new Harbinger of the Apocalypse, there was a time when the Hellboy fanbase was busy rallying around the idea of Hellboy 3 with Perlman and del Toro to return as both star and director of the film.

"I never thought it was going through, but I did know that Guillermo had an amazing idea of how to close the trilogy. It was theatrically so dynamic. If you were a fan of the first two Hellboys, not only were you going to have the top of your head blown off by how it resolved, but you were going to get the payoff in the investment because it was always designed to be a trilogy," Perlman said.

Unfortunately, as much as fans would have wanted Hellboy 3, the project never really picked up, so Millennium decided on rebooting the franchise instead. Though there might have been some resistance at first, fans have come to support director Neil Marshall's Hellboy reboot, admiring Harbour's look as Hellboy and gushing over the promise of a comic-accurate film.

Hellboy is set to premiere on April 12, 2019.

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