David Harbour Looks Hella-Cool as Hellboy in First Reboot Photos

Update: the release date is incorrect; no date has yet been set.

Hellboy is coming back to the big screen, and looking as badass as ever. Hellboy-creator Mike Mignola tweeted out the first photo of David Harbour as the half-demon paranormal investigator in the upcoming reboot.

Can you believe that this is Hopper from Stranger Things?

Hellboy is seen wielding his iconic gun, The Good Samaritan (for shooting!), alongside his trademark stone fist, the Right Hand of Doom (for punching!). Harbour later tweeted, then deleted, a second black-and-white shot of himself in character, this time wearing Hellboy’s classic trenchcoat.

A release date for the film followed the photos: January 11th, 2019. That may seem far-off, but Hellboy fans are used to waiting. The character’s last film appearance was all the way back in 2008’s Hellboy II: The Golden Army – a sequel to 2004’s original Hellboy movie. Guillermo del Toro directed those well-loved films, which starred Ron Perlman as the gruff, cigar-munching superhero.

After years of talk of a Hellboy 3, del Toro declared that project dead back in February. Mignola announced in May that they’d be going in a different direction, with a darker, potentially R-rated reboot starring Harbour and helmed by The Descent director Neil Marshall.

Summoned from hell by the Nazis during World War II, a baby Hellboy was rescued by Allied forces and raised by Professor Trevor “Broom” Bruttenholm, who will be played in the reboot by Ian McShane. In the modern day, the adult Hellboy investigates the strange and supernatural for the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Development, or B.P.R.D. for short.

Now simply titled Hellboy, the film’s original working title was Hellboy: Rise of The Blood Queen. Milla Jovovich, of Resident Evil fame, is set to play the villainous Blood Queen, a powerful witch and adversary of Hellboy in the comics.

After a much-publicized “whitewashing” controversy, Lost alum Daniel Dae Kim has been cast as undead B.P.R.D agent Ben Daimio. The role was initially given to Caucasian actor Ed Skrein– a decision that was met with intense backlash due to the character’s Japanese-American heritage in the comics.

Skrein (best known as the villain of Deadpool) gracefully stepped down from the role, citing the importance of maintaining the character’s cultural background and promoting ethnic diversity in film. Kim, an Asian-American who recently left Hawaii Five-0 in protest of pay disparities between the show’s white and Asian stars, thanked Skrein for his willingness to give up the role in support of diversity.

Despite all the buzz, we still know very little about what the Hellboy reboot will look like. But thanks to these photos, at least we know that Hellboy himself will look as awesome as ever.