The upcoming Hellboy movie reboot features a new take on the character by actor David Harbour, and from what we’ve seen in the trailer and a few posters and heard from the SFX makeup designer , it’s clear he’s setting his Hellboy apart from that of Ron Perlman’s in the previous two films directed by Guillermo del Toro. While talking to IGN, Hellboy creator Mike Mignola (who is an executive producer and creative consultant on the reboot) highlighted what he saw as the key difference between the two performances.

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“[David Harbour’s Hellboy is] a little bit more dramatic. There’s a different edge,” Mignola said. “[Ron Perlman] was very smooth as Hellboy, and there’s a whole different love interest vibe with Ron’s thing. Ron was almost playing this kind of old adolescent. And Harbour plays a grittier Hellboy, and a bit more explosive, emotionally. It’s hard to explain, but it is a very different take. The beauty is, both of them, in their own way, feel like Hellboy. It’s almost like they’re just tipped it in two different directions. There’s something much gnarlier about David’s Hellboy.”(If you haven't watched the new Hellboy trailer yet, check it out below.)Whereas we met Perlman’s Hellboy at the onset of his career as a paranormal policeman, Harbour’s Hellboy has been around a lot longer, which speaks to why he’s a bit more world-weary and has a lot more attitude. The film is also adopting a key element of the comics where Hellboy is known to the public instead of the B.P.R.D. trying to cover up his existence.“In the del Toro films, Hellboy is kind of penned up, and kept secret, and that is not what we have here [in the upcoming film]. This is truer to the comic, in that Hellboy’s been out in the world. He’s not a top-secret, hidden away guy. He’s an out-there-in-the-world, functioning, working adult. So you’ve got that working stiff, been there, done that vibe with Harbour, that you just couldn’t have with Ron because it was played so differently,” Mignola explained, also adding, “[With Harbour’s Hellboy] there’s a little bit more angsty, find-your-place-in-the-world, a frustration with his role.”The story of the Hellboy reboot largely comes from the comic The Wild Hunt, which is the middle chapter of an epic comic trilogy that sees Hellboy uncover the true nature of his heritage and battle the powerful Blood Queen. It was a conscious choice to set this movie well into Hellboy’s life rather than start again at the beginning again.“We didn’t want to retell the original, the first Hellboy book, because del Toro had done that,” Mignola said. “So looking for a new entryway into the Hellboy world, and taking this big, three-book arc, going to that story, gave us a new place to start, and it gave us a large story, so hopefully, after this film, we can continue in this big arc that I established in the comics.”

Joshua is Senior Editor of IGN Comics. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN