Ian McShane Offers New Details on Hellboy's Relationship With Broom in New Film

The new theatrical incarnation of Hellboy, starring David Harbour is going to be a lot different from what fans have become accustomed to with Guillermo Del Toro and Ron Perlman's initial films. The new one is set to have a hard-R rating and will be jam-packed full of witches and demons. But we're now learning that the changes don't stop there.

Actor Ian McShane was cast in the reboot as Hellboy's adopted father, Professor Broom. McShane recently spoke with Fandom and revealed that Broom and Hellboy will have a much different relationship than in the previous films, and a lot of that comes from where the movie chooses to begin their story.

“You don’t start with the birth of Hellboy… but the relationship between [Hellboy and Broom] is quite crusty. Does he trust his father? [Hellboy asks], ‘Why didn’t you kill me? I’m a monster.’ It’s a little bit of a psychological battle against Hellboy.

"There’s one important moment in [the film] when [Hellboy] sort of thinks he’s fighting his own people, the outsiders. So, he’s being used by the insiders, which is me, if you like.”

Even though the relationship between the two might go in a different direction, McShane says he will take a similar approach to the role as the late John Hurt did in the previous films.

“I’m sort of playing this part as a slight homage to John [Hurt]. I mean, I’m not playing it like him, obviously… but the relationship [with Hellboy] is very much the same.”

The Neil Marshall directed film will be released on January 11th, 2019.