With Neil Marshall on board to direct the David Harbour-starring Hellboy reboot, the film has now moved to announce its first additional cast member.

As Professor Trevor Bruttenholm – the role played by the late John Hurt in Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy pictures – is Ian McShane. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news, with McShane currently enjoying plenty of time in the spotlight for his role in the bonkers-yet-brilliant American Gods.

Production on this new Hellboy effort, titled Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen, is due to start imminently, with shooting planned to commence in September.

As a comic book character, Hellboy debuted back in 1993. A demon drawn from Hell by crazy Nazi types during the closing moments of World War II, he’d end up becoming a part of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense and raised by the aforementioned Prof. Bruttenolm. Throughout his years in action, Hellboy has battled (and usually bested!) countless eerie demons and evil doers, often with the help of the likes of Abe Sapien and Lobster Johnson.

In terms of big screen shenanigans, Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy was released in 2004 and took home just under $100 million worldwide as it won a whole heap of praise from many quarters. The 2008 follow-up, Hellboy: The Golden Army, topped that by taking $160 million from a budget of $85 million. And since that 2008 picture, fans and critics alike have been hoping to finally see the third leg of del Toro and Perlman’s trilogy. As it stands, that now won’t be happening, which is hugely disappointing to hear but, if we’re honest, it’s something we’ve all been expecting. That said, Marshall has proven his salt over the years with efforts such as Dog Soldiers, The Descent, Doomsday and more recently with his work in TV on the likes of Constantine and Westworld. As for Harbour, he’s seen his star rise thanks to his excellent turn in the first season of Netflix’s Stranger Things. It may not be del Toro, it may not be Perlman, but there’s certainly enough talent involved here to make this new take on a beloved hero work.

As ever, expect more on Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen as it continues to develop.