Despite reports to the contrary, there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell of Ron Perlman making an appearance in Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen.
That’s according to the man himself, who addressed the possibility of a cameo in Neil Marshall’s upcoming reboot after it was posted online by one curious Twitter user. In short: don’t hold your breath.
Having donned the Right Hand of Doom twice in four years, and following a heartfelt campaign to launch the long-rumored Hellboy 3 with Guillermo del Toro, Perlman walked away from Mike Mignola’s beloved anti-hero back in February, thereby opening up a path for Lionsgate and Marshall to approach the titular character in a completely different way. Word is that this new interpretation will serve up an adult-oriented and potentially R-rated Hellboy film, and though the jury’s still out on that classification, we know that Stranger Things actor David Harbour, who was seemingly one of many big-name stars in the race for Deadpool 2‘s Cable, has signed on to play the famous horned demon.
Alas, those hoping for some form of crossover between one Hellboy and the next will be disappointed to learn that Perlman isn’t involved in Rise of the Blood Queen whatsoever. There’s only one Big Red, and this time around it’s Harbour who will be shepherding the beloved anti-hero onto the big screen.
Per Twitter:
When Hellboy freezes over. https://t.co/3sCIkAJW7n
— Ron Perlman (@perlmutations) August 1, 2017
Truth be told, that’s not all that surprising. Lionsgate and Neil Marshall’s forthcoming reboot may have had intentions to connect with del Toro’s saga at the outset, but as the pieces started to fall into place, Rise of the Blood Queen was overhauled from a continuation of Guillermo del Toro’s movies to a full-scale reboot. And we couldn’t be more excited.
Now that John Wick and American Gods actor Ian McShane has clinched the role of Hellboy‘s adoptive father, Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, filming on Rise of the Blood Queen is due to commence in September ahead of a theatrical release late next year.