Todd McFarlane Archives -

Three ace writers join Blumhouse’s adaptation of ‘Spawn’ film

Blumhouse’s Spawn film adaptation, in development limbo since 2017, has gained a new team of all-star writers. Scott Silver (Joker), Malcom Spellman (Falcon and the Winter Soldier), and Matt Mixon will join to bring the film out of the ashes and onto the big screen. Jamie Foxx, originally cast in the title role, is still attached to the project.

Created by Todd McFarlane, the comic book character Spawn was first introduced in 1992. McFarlane penned a previous draft of the film adaptation’s script but has now stepped down from the writing role as well as a rumored directorial role. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, McFarlane commented, “If we’ve got an A-list actor, A-list producers, A-list writers, then do you want to shoot for A-list directors, A-list cinematographers? The answer is, ‘Of course.’ Let’s keep the momentum going.” Once McFarlane learned the film would garner a larger budget, and watched Silver’s work in 2019’s Joker, he said, “Why not just go for the guy who wrote the movie?” Of course, Silver said yes, and the rest is history.

Spawn is a special project for writer Spellman, who gushed, “I grew up in Berkeley, which is a comic book city. Todd McFarlane’s Spawn character was always one of my favorites — a Black superhero that was no bullshit, he was cool and dealt with modern issues. Myself, Matt Mixon, and Scott Silver are pledged to honoring what Todd started and what Spawn is at its core, delivering something that’s relevant and edgy and unlike any other superhero movie out there.”

For those not familiar with the comics, Spawn is a former black-ops agent who is murdered and must make a deal with a demon to return to Earth. However, upon his return he discovers five years have passed, his wife has moved on, and he is cursed to roam as the spawn of hell.

Spawn does not currently have a release date.

Todd McFarlane and Greg Capullo are coming together for ‘Batman’ and ‘Spawn’ crossover comic

Legendary authors Todd McFarlane and Greg Capullo will collaborate on a brand-new Batman/Spawn comic book crossover. The announcement was made as part of DC’s Jim Lee & Friends Panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2022.

The issue will be written by McFarlane, with interior artwork by Capullo, and will represent a reunion for the two authors who previously collaborated on numerous issues of the flagship Spawn series. Since 1994’s Batman/Spawn: War Devil and the Spawn/Batman one-shot by Frank Miller and McFarlane, the two heroes haven’t collaborated until the upcoming Batman/Spawn crossover. DC confirmed that the former edition will be reprinted ahead of the new issue’s release.

DC Comics will release Batman/Spawn #1, a one-shot for now, on 13 December; Batman/Spawn: War Devil will be rereleased on 15 November. The 48-page premium one-shot has kept everyone clamouring for more details.

At the event, two comic covers were showcased, one with Batman standing on top of Spawn and the other with Spawn defeating the Dark Knight. Knowing McFarlane, there will almost certainly be numerous other variants of the issue.

Jeremy Renner officially confirmed to star in ‘Spawn’ reboot

After days of speculations, it has finally confirmed. Hollywood star Jeremy Renner has been roped in to play Detective Twitch Williams in the reboot of Spawn, the infamous anti-hero of Image Comics.

The 1997 film based on the same character was an epic disaster, but the makers are keen to bring one of the most ruthless superheroes back onto the silver screen. Spawn creator Todd McFarlane himself would be writing and directing the movie, while Renner would be essaying the role of the only human companion Spawn ever made during his unceasing struggle against the evil.

This also marks his second comic franchise after Marvel, following on the coattails of his role as the Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He, however, was conspicuous by his absence in Avengers: Infinity War while there’s still no word on his involvement in the concluding movie next year.

Blumhouse’s Spawn follows the catastrophic events of an erstwhile Force Recon Marine Albert Simmons who’s recruited by the CIA before being killed by his own partner through incineration. But Simmons is sent back to earth by the lord of hell Malebolgia, though in a demonic avatar, later christened as Spawn, as he then sets out to exact revenge on his perpetrators.

Whilst a release date hasn’t been made official, the production is set to go on floors soon.

Jamie Foxx to star as Spawn in the film adaptation of Todd McFarlane’s comics

Jamie Foxx is confirmed to star in the latest Spawn film from Blumhouse Productions which will mark the directorial debut of the creator of the original comic, Todd McFarlane (according to Deadline). McFarlane will also write and co-produce with Jason Blum.

McFarlane said that Foxx was the actor in his mind when he wrote the script. “Jamie came to my office five years ago, and he had an idea about Spawn and we talked about it. I never forgot him, and when I was writing this script… he was my visual guy and I never let go of him… Luckily, he hadn’t forgotten either. I said, ‘Hey, I’m back to talk about Spawn again, and he was like, let’s do it.”

As told to Movies.com earlier, Foxx mentioned, “Spawn is one, and Mike Tyson. Those are two roles I would just love to do. I’m aggressively pursuing them.”

He further added “A few years back I flew out to Arizona to meet the man behind one of the most incredible comic book characters in the universe-Todd McFarlane. I told him no one would work harder than me if given the opportunity… to put my name in the hat to embody his beloved character Spawn… well… the opportunity is here!!” (Deadline)

First appeared in print in 1992 by Image Comics, the Spawn character gained instant popularity which made New Line Cinema adapt the character into a feature film in 1997 starring Michael Jai White. HBO also took the antihero in an animated series that lasted for three seasons, with six episodes each and earned two Emmy Awards.

As the comic story-line goes, Spawn is a human-turned-Hellspawn who possesses superhuman strength, speed, and is almost immortal. Spawn also has the ability to teleport, shapeshift, and heal. Foxx will star as the elite mercenary (Al Simmons) who is killed but comes back from Hell as a reluctant soldier of the Devil after being betrayed twice by his comrades to be murdered with his corpse set aflame.

Convinced to become a Hellspawn warrior in exchange for being able to be reunited with his wife, Spawn finds himself stuck in a demonic creature shell and is double-crossed in Hell as well. Later he finds out that his wife has moved on and remarried.

Recently seen in Sony’s Baby Driver, Spawn reboot will be Foxx’s second comic book film, after playing Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. He can be seen next in Robin Hood: Origins as Little John and also in All-Star Weekend which he has directed as well.

McFarlane, who previously teased that the new film will be a “dark/hard R” about the boogeyman. But he doesn’t want to disclose Spawn’s story and wants his anti-hero to be a man of few words. “The scariest movies, from Jaws to John Carpenter’s The Thing, or The Grudge and The Ring, the boogeyman doesn’t talk. It confuses people because of the comic book industry, and because they all default into their Captain America mindset and I keep saying, no, get into John Carpenter’s mindset or Hitchcock. This is not a man in a rubber suit, it’s not a hero that’s going to come and save the damsel. It’s none of that. At the end of the movie, I’m hoping that the audience will say either, is this a ghost that turns into a man, or is it a man that turns into a ghost?” he told Deadline.

There are plans for a trilogy, assuming the first being successful. “I’ve got a trilogy in mind here, and I’m not inclined in this first movie to do an origin story. I’m mentally exhausted from origin stories,” McFarlane noted.