When David Harbour was cast as the title character in Hellboy, there was a fair bit of excitement among fans (despite it not being the Hellboy 3 the majority wanted). The actor had emerged as real a fan-favourite talent after starring in Stranger Things, leaving us with no reason to believe Harbour would do anything other than knock it out of the park.
Ultimately, he did the best he could with the material given to him, but with a multitude of problems behind the scenes, that material was pretty dire and the movie was a box office flop. It also failed to strike a chord with critics and fans alike, falling into the category of all-time worst comic book movies in the process.
During a recent interview with GQ, Harbour was asked to reflect on that project and admitted that it was an uphill battle from the start. "It was a very difficult experience because I wanted a lot out of it. I really like [Mike Mignola, Hellboy creator], I like that character," the Black Widow star explains.
"And then immediately when it began, even when it was announced, I realised that people did not want that character reinvented. I was very naive and optimistic about what we were going to do."
While there had admittedly been a fair bit of backlash that Guillermo del Toro and Ron Perlman weren't reuniting for a third Hellboy movie, it became clear to Harbour that the movie would bomb. As a result, he placed a call to Ryan Reynolds on the day it was set to arrive in theaters.
"I know him a little bit. I called him and I was like, 'Hey man, I just need to know something. You know Green Lantern? Huge flop for you. What the [frick] is that like, because I think I’m going to hit that right now. Am I gonna be okay? Am I gonna survive this?'" The actor didn't divulge much from their conversation, but says that Reynolds, for his part, was "sweet" about it.
While Hellboy may have hurt his leading man credentials, the movie didn't damage his career too much and he bounced back with Black Widow and more Stranger Things. It was a harder journey for Reynolds after Green Lantern, and one that took him nearly half a decade to recover from once Deadpool was released in 2016.
What did you guys think about 2019's Hellboy reboot?