It only took days for Ed Skrein to pull out of the Hellboy reboot, and it didn't take much longer than that for Lionsgate and Millennium to find his replacement.
The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Daniel Dae Kim (ABC’s Lost and CBS’ Hawaii Five-0) is in talks to replace the Deadpool star as Major Ben Daimio. The character is described as "a rugged military member of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, who, due to a supernatural encounter, can turn into a jaguar when angered or in pain".
Mike Mignola introduced the Japanese-American Daimio in Dark Horse Comics’ December 2004 issue BPRD: The Dead #1. Soon after Skrein landed the part in August, there was some backlash over whitewashing. Maybe it wasn't as stentorian as the protests against Scarlett Johansson’s role in Ghost in the Shell or Tilda Swinton's role in Doctor Strange, but the outcry was loud enough for the British actor to take note.
Skrein subsequently tweeted that he would give up his Hellboy role so "the role can be cast appropriately". He added that he had previously been "unaware" of Daimio's heritage.
Producers Larry Gordon and Lloyd Levin supported the actor's "unselfish decision", and promised to recast the character with "an actor more consistent with the character in the source material". Kim, who is of South Korean descent, would be a good fit.
In addition to the above-mentioned shows, Kim starred in The WB's Angel, Fox's 24, UPN's Star Trek: Enterprise, and A&E's The Andromeda Strain. His movie credits include Ang Lee's Hulk, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2, and Robert Schwentke's Insurgent and Allegiant Divergent Series installments .
The Hellboy cast roster already includes David Harbour, Mila Jovovich, Ian McShane, Sasha Lane, and Penelope Mitchell. Neil Marshall is directing the R-rated reboot, and Andrew Cosby, Christopher Golden, Aron Coleite, and creator Mignola wrote the script.
