Daniel Dae Kim May Replace Ed Skrein In Hellboy Reboot
by Erik Amaya
The BPRD may finally have a Major Daimio.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lost and Hawaii Five-0 veteran Daniel Dae Kim is in negotiations to take the role of Major Ben Daimio in the Hellboy reboot. Deadpool‘s Ed Skrien was previously cast in the part, but bowed out when he learned of his unwitting part in the continual whitewashing of Asian or Asian-American roles in Hollywood productions. In a Twitter post he said, “Representation of ethnic diversity is important” and that though he was said to leave the production, he hoped it would make a difference.
Shortly thereafter, Lionsgate, the studio behind the new film, issued a statement saying, “It was not our intent to be insensitive to issues of authenticity and ethnicity, and we will look to recast the part with an actor more consistent with the character in the source material.”
Back in June, Kim was in battle of his own as he and Hawaii Five-0 costar Grace Park quit the series after CBS refused to offer them salary parity with their costars Alex O’Loughlin and Scott Caan.
Introduced in BPRD: The Dead, Daimio joined the team after the temporary departures of Abe Sapien and Dr. Kate Corrigan. A military man from the Pentagon, his approach to paranormal research and defense differed from the established norm of the department. Daimio even moved the team’s base from New Jersey to a disused BPRD facility in Colorado. His leadership led to conflicts with Liz Sherman, but he eventually became a trusted member of the team until his curse caused him to kill a bunch of agents. Daimio involuntarily turns into a jaguar at night; a condition which leaves him without the memories of his human life.
Staring David Harbour, Ian McShane as Trevor Bruttenholm, Milla Jovovich as the Blood Queen and American Honey‘s Sasha Lane as Alice Monaghan, Hellboy is set for a 2018 release.
