Hellboy reboot offers first look at David Harbour as Big Red

The creator of comic series Hellboy, Mike Mignola, has shared a first look at Stranger Things star David Harbour in the title role of the film reboot, wearing a toe-to-tip costume transforming him into the demonic paranormal investigator.

The look of the character is, understandably, very similar to that of Ron Pearlman, who played him in the previous two films directed by Guillermo del Toro. The new costume appears to be more detailed however, with the character baring more scars.

This is a good reminder that the new film will be R-rated, delving deeper into the dark subject matter of its supernatural source material. The story will concern Hellboy's attempts to take down Nimue, known as the Blood Queen.

The film is being directed by Neil Marshall and will also star Milla Jovovich as the Blood Queen and Ian McShane as Hellboy's father figure Professor Broom.

For Harbour, who plays Detective Jim Hopper in supernatural Netflix thriller Stranger Things, Hellboy is a first major starring role in a Hollywood feature after small roles in Suicide Squad and Quantum of Solace.

As filming continues on Hellboy, Stranger Things' second season nears its anticipated release on 27 October.

The 42-year-old shared his own behind the scenes shot of himself as the character in a since-deleted tweet saying in reference to Rolling Stones classic Sympathy for the Devil: "Please allow to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste..."

News around Hellboy has recently been dominated by the whitewashing controversy that saw British actor Ed Skrein vacate a role based on a character of Japanese descent.

Skrein was set to play Ben Daimio, another member of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defence alongside Hellboy. His casting, despite the character's original ethnicity, caused controversy, leading to the Brit leaving the project.

"I accepted the role unaware that the character in the original comics was of mixed Asian heritage," Skrein said in a statement on Twitter. "There has been intense conversation and understandable upset since that announcement, and I must do what I feel is right."

This week it emerged that Lost and Hawaii Five-0 star Daniel Dae Kim is set to replace Skrein in the supporting role.

The Hellboy reboot is set to release on 11 January 2019.