Brian Taylor‘s new Hellboy film, The Crooked Man, has its Hellboy. Jack Kesy will play the latest incarnation of Mike Mignola‘s demonic hero. This is the first casting announcement for Millennium Media‘s reboot of the comic book franchise. Says Millennium co-president Jonathan Yunger, “Jack Kesy is a dynamic actor who has the ability to morph into his roles. His talent and stature are perfect for this younger Hellboy.”

As previously reported by Collider, The Crooked Man will be an R-rated, folk-horror-tinged adaptation of the 2008 Hellboy miniseries of the same name by Mignola and late horror comics artist Richard Corben. In it, a younger Hellboy ventures into the backwoods of Appalachia in the late 1950s, where he encounters witches, cannibals, and the local devil—the titular Crooked Man. Playing opposite Kesy‘s Hellboy are his ally Tom Ferrell and a new character created for the film; casting for those roles has yet to be revealed. This will be the fourth big-screen adaptation of Mignola‘s supernatural hero, an agent of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense; Ron Perlman starred in 2004’s Hellboy and its sequel, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, both of which were helmed by Guillermo del Toro, while David Harbour donned the horns for an unsuccessful 2019 Neil Marshall-directed reboot of the franchise.

Where Have You Seen Jack Kesy Before?

Kesy has an action-heavy resume, having starred in the 2018 Bruce Willis Death Wish remake, the Afghanistan war film 12 Strong, and Deadpool 2, where he played the Marvel villain Black Tom Cassidy. He had a chance to show off his comedic shops in the TNT dramedy Claws. He is also no stranger to the extensive prosthetic makeup that will transform him into Hellboy; on the FX horror series The Strain, he played the monstrous vampire Gabriel Bolivar. He last appeared in Amazon‘s Tom Clancy adaptation Without Remorse, alongside Michael B. Jordan, and can next be seen in the upcoming hockey drama Way of the Warriors, the action film Sheroes, and the heist film Murder at Hollow Creek.

Who Else is Behind Hellboy: The Crooked Man?

Taylor (Crank, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Mom and Dad) will direct, from a script by Mignola and veteran horror author Chris Golden. Dark Horse Entertainment’s Mike Richardson, and Millennium Media’s Yunger, Jeffrey Greenstein, Les Weldon, Rob Van Norden, and Yariv Lerner will produce, while Mignola, Millennium Media’s Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, and

Tanner Mobley, Campbell Grobman Films’ Lati Grobman and Christa Campbell, and Telepool’s Michael Muellner and Julia Muentefering will executive-produce. Sam Schulte will co-produce on behalf of Millennium Media.

The Crooked Man begins shooting in Bulgaria and Greece in April. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.

via Collider