The Hellboy reboot is the latest comic book movie to get snared in racial controversy. Fans (particularly in the Asian-American community) are in uproar due to the casting of Deadpool and Game of Thrones actor Ed Skrein, who is playing the comic book character of Ben Daimio, who is Japanese-American.

Deadline breaks down the situation, which saw Skrein post his excitement for the role on social media - only to find himself weathering a storm of angry responses.

Excited to join the #Hellboy cast as Ben Daimio. All praise due to the creator @artofmmignola 🙏🏼 #BPRD pic.twitter.com/Ev0JDS03H5 — Ed Skrein (@edskrein) August 21, 2017



After all the angry responses started, Hellboy creator Mike Mignola showed support for Skrein by tweeting:

Thanks and happy you've signed on... see you soon — Mike Mignola (@artofmmignola) August 21, 2017



Oddly enough, one of the loudest angry voices was Punisher: War Zone director Lexi Alexander, who tweeted:

The producer and director should definitely be harassed about this. But actors need to start taking responsibility for their choices — Lexi Alexander ‎ (@Lexialex) August 22, 2017



Controversy over race-changes to popular geek culture characters has been a mounting trend in Hollywood. Whether it's casting traditionally white characters with actors of color or vice versa, the change usually sparks intense debate amongst fans and creators, alike.

In this case, the character of Ben Daimio has important cultural elements attached to his character, as his grandmother was an Imperial assassin for Japan during WWII. Like with the Hollywood adaptations of both Ghost In Shell and Death Note this year, it's being argued that characters with such strong cultural ties should be played by some of the many fine actors in the industry who are actually Asian.