Ed Skrein has made a decision to leave the Hellboy reboot after fans declared that the casting is whitewashing as it does not follow the true look of the original character.
Marvel’s Deadpool villain joined the cast after a choice had been made to restart the Hellboy franchise but the news was met with a negative response.
Ed Skrein was set to play military member Major Ben Daimio but in the comic books the character is of Asian descent with a distinctive scar on his face.
Fans were quick to call out the decision to ‘whitewash’ the character which resulted in Skrein leaving the part via an announcement on his Twitter.
— Ed Skrein (@edskrein) August 28, 2017
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time whitewashing has been glaringly obvious in certain films such as Scarlett Johansson’s Ghost in the Shell and Marvel’s Doctor Strange.
Yet again, the characters were originally Asian in the source material but Asian actors were not selected for the leading roles, which infuriated fans.
David Harbour (Stranger Things) is also starring in the Hellboy reboot and he took to his own Twitter account to praise Ed Skrein, tweeting:
Hey internet. Thank you for your voices.
An injustice was done and will be corrected.
Many thanks to @edskrein for doing what is right.??? https://t.co/tUvP6YibgG
— David Harbour (@DavidKHarbour) August 28, 2017
Hellboy producers Larry Gordon, Lloyd Levin, Lionsgate and Millennium also published their own statement in support of Skrein’s decision:
“Ed came to us and felt very strongly about this. We fully support his unselfish decision.”
“It was not our intent to be insensitive to issues of authenticity and ethnicity, and we will look to recast the part with an actor more consistent with the character in the source material.”
Currently, Ian McShane is playing Hellboy’s adoptive father and Milla Jovovich is depicting a medieval witch whose desire is to terminate humankind.
Many have praised Ed Skrein’s choice to leave the particular role while others have questioned whether it was really necessary.
What are your thoughts on Skrein’s decision? Let us know @CelebMix!