
Original Hellboy star Ron Perlman reveals that he had the opportunity to be in the 2019 reboot starring David Harbour, but decided against it.
Ron Perlman rejected a cameo role in the 2019 reboot of Hellboy. Perlman first took on the role of the Right Hand of Doom in 2004 for Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy before returning for the sequel, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, in 2008. Fans had been clamoring for a third film to finish the Hellboy trilogy for years, but in 2017, the Hellboy reboot starring David Harbour was announced.
While fans felt spited for getting a Hellboy reboot rather than the third film from del Toro, Perlman and del Toro were supportive of the reboot throughout its development and production. Del Toro gave the Hellboy reboot his blessing and supported the decision to cast Harbour in the lead role. Similarly, Perlman wished Harbour good luck and told fans that he had made peace with Hellboy being rebooted. Perlman refused to answer a lot of questions on the Hellboy reboot, but now it looks like he also refused the offer to join the project.
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In a recent interview with Comicbook, Perlman explained why he turned down an opportunity to appear in 2019’s Hellboy. Perlman revealed he could have had a cameo in 2019’s reboot by saying, “The reboot was something I had the opportunity to participate in and decided that the only version of Hellboy I’m interested in is the one I do with Guillermo and so in walking away from it, I truly walked away from it, and haven’t seen it or heard much about it. I wished them well, but it was not in my bailiwick.” Perlman also explained that the main reason Hellboy 3 never happened was because del Toro is, “one of the busiest guys in the business.“
Perlman didn’t want anything to do with the Hellboy reboot, and neither did the fans. People were already apprehensive of 2019’s Hellboy before it came out, but brutal reviews for the comic book movie quickly started to flood the internet upon its release. These horrible reviews were also partly responsible for Hellboy bombing at the box office. Harbour has previously admitted that Hellboy had some flaws and that fans probably won’t ever see him starring in Hellboy sequels.
In the end, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that Perlman refused to be involved with the Hellboy reboot. Perlman had been petitioning for years to get Hellboy 3 off the ground, and he was likely just as caught off guard as fans were when he heard about the reboot. Perlman may have been respectful to Harbour, but Perlman said when Hellboy was in development that he would cameo in it, “When Hellboy freezes over.” Now, fans know he meant it.
Source: Comicbook