For the past two decades, comics artist Todd McFarlane has cherished a dream to bring to life his most popular character,Spawn, in a live-action movie. While such a movie has already been made back in 1997 starring Michael Jai White, McFarlane has something much more cutting edge in mind for a reboot, which he aims to write and direct himself. In a recent interview, McFarlane affirmed the project is still moving forward in a significant manner.
“It’s the same sort of frustration [of what’s holding things up at the moment]. I keep saying the same thing, and at some point I’m sure itfalls on deaf ears, but we just added another person. Movement is happening. We crossed a threshold literally last week.”
After the critical and commercial failure of the 1997 movie,Spawnwas seen as a failed property by Hollywood, andTodd McFarlanehas had a tough time getting people interested in making a hard-R rated feature for the character, which is what McFarlane believes the story deserves.
Then came the success ofR-rated superhero farelikeDeadpoolandJoker, and interest in McFarlane’s story was revived in Hollywood. TheSpawnmovie helmed by McFarlane added Jamie Foxx in the lead role and Jeremy Renner as a supporting character last year. Now, according to McFarlane, while fresh concrete news is hard to come by that can be shared with fans, the team behind the upcoming film is on the same page about realizing his vision for the definitiveSpawnfilm.
“I know when people don’t getconcrete names and informationand stuff, and when I have to say, ‘Stuff’s happening. Just wait,’ that’s not very satisfying answer, which is essentially what I’m saying. And that’s what’s frustrating, because I know that it’s way more than that happening. And you know, dealing on the Hollywood front, with all the stuff, there are lots and lots of things going on that have yet to be sort of announced. But yeah, I fall in that same bucket, but at least we’re all rowing in the same direction right now. So I think there’s a bit of a distraction, but now, I think we’re all pretty focused here, and everybody wants the same goal, which is, ‘Let’s take this thing to the next level. Come on, guys, let’s go.'”
TheSpawncomics tell thestory of Al Simmons, a secret service operative who was betrayed by a teammate. Following his death and descent into hell, Simmons made a deal with a demon to return to Earth to see his wife one last time, in return for becoming an agent of hell known as a Hellspawn, a demonic entity powered by Necroplasm that gives him supernatural powers.
Written and directed by Todd McFarlane, the live-actionSpawnmovie will feature Jamie Foxx in the lead role as Al/Spawn, and Jeremy Renner as NYPD homicide detective Twitch Williams. The film has yet to receive a release date. This news comes fromComicBook.com.
