Report: Daniel Dae Kim Circling Daimio in HELLBOY Reboot
Daniel Dae Kim is in talks to replace Ed Skrein as Japanese American character, Ben Daimio, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Ed Skrein stepped down from the role when there was backlash because Ed Skrein is not Asian, but Caucasian and British. Daniel Dae Kim is Korean American.
Kim recently stepped away from his role as Chin Ho Kelly on Hawaii Five-O due to conflicts over salary. He and Grace Park were seeking equal pay to their co-stars, Scott Caan and Alex O’Loughlin.
He is no stranger to genre, having starred on Lost and Crusade, the short lived Babylon 5 spinoff. Daniel Dae Kim was also on Angel, Star Trek: Enterprise and Charmed. Kim was in the Divergent movies as Jack Kang. His long and varied career is a good choice for the role.
Major Benjamin Daimio is a former U.S. Marine who works for the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. He was mysteriously resurrected in the Bolivian jungle and since then, has become a were-jaguar. His face is scarred by the jaguar attack, with deep slash scars and a missing ear. In the comics, he particularly has conflicts with Liz Sherman, but it doesn’t seem likely that she will appear in this movie.
Kim would join David Harbour, who is playing Hellboy. Harbour is currently playing Chief Hopper on the Netflix hit Stranger Things. Milla Jovovich, of The Fifth Element and the Resident Evil series, is playing Hellboy’s arch enemy, Nimue the Blood Queen. Newcomer Sasha Lane will be Alice Monaghan, a girl that is rescued from the fairies. Penelope Mitchell from Hemlock Grove joins the cast as a witch who opposes the Blood Queen. Ian McShane will be Hellboy’s adoptive father, Professor Trevor Broom. The reboot will be directed by Neil Marshall, who also directed The Descent and Dog Soldiers.
