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Doug Jones was offered a cameo in the Hellboy reboot and nearly played Silver Surfer again
While the upcoming live-action Hellboy movie from director Neil Marshall won't be featuring Ron Perlman in the titular role, the production did make an effort to recruit a familiar face from the two Guillermo del Toro films, Doug Jones.
"There was a chance that a cameo might have happened, but not as things progressed," Jones told The Hollywood Reporter. "Reboot means recasting, and I'm told this first reboot does not have anybody in it from the original film. I received an offer to do a cameo, but I was deeply immersed in Star Trek: Discovery when that offer came in, so I couldn't do it."
In Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), Jones played Abe Sapien, a blue-skinned and amphibious member of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, who can sense the thoughts, feelings, and health statuses of others simply by touching them. He fell in love with the Princess Nuala (Anna Walton) only to lose her when she sacrificed herself to stop her brother (Luke Gross) from taking over the world.
Jones currently plays Commander Saru (a member of the Kelpian race) on Discovery, which just took viewers to the character's homeworld of Kaminar. The actor recently spoke with SYFY WIRE about the episode and the second season in general.
Generally speaking, Jones has portrayed many of your favorite characters, although you didn't know it at the time since he's often hidden behind a ton of makeup and prosthetics. His lanky form has allowed him to disappear into such roles as Billy Butcherson in Hocus Pocus, the Faun and Pale Man in Pan's Labyrinth, and the Silver Surfer in the second Fantastic Four movie.
On this last front, Jones could have reprised his role of mo-capping Norrin Radd (who was voiced by Laurence Fishburne in post) if 20th Century Fox had decided to order a trilogy capper to Tim Story's superhero series.
"When I did the Silver Surfer in the Fantastic Four sequel, I had a three-picture deal. There were plans to have the Silver Surfer role doing more," Jones added during his chat with THR.
With Disney about to acquire all of Fox's entertainment properties, we may see the herald of Galactus (as well as Galactus himself) enter the MCU very soon. All Marvel has to do is make the call because Jones is willing and ready to dive back in.
"I'm not at the studio level, so I have no idea what happened from there," he said. "I was onboard then, and I would be onboard now if the Surfer ever came back. He's a beloved character and I would love to play him again."
Sticking more closely to Mike Mignola's original Dark Horse comics, Hellboy opens in theaters everywhere April 12.
David Harbour (Stranger Things) is taking on the role once held by Perlman, but no promotional material has shown neither hide nor hair of ol' Abe Sapien. Who knows, maybe they'll go with Roger the Homunculus this time around.
