‘Todd McFarlane’s Spawn’. Photo: HBO Animation.
Preview:
- Producer Jason Blum has revealed the script cover for ‘King Spawn’.
- Matt Mixon, Malcolm Spellman and Scott Silver are credited with the new draft.
- There is no word on what this means for creator Todd McFarlane’s directorial ambitions.
If there is one complicated comic book character whose ongoing development woes can rival that of Marvel’s ‘Blade’, it’s surely Todd McFarlane’s hellish antihero ‘Spawn’.
The latest incarnation has been through the wringer, even with McFarlane constantly talking about his plans for it. At last, though, there appears to be some positive momentum as Blumhouse boss Jason Blum –– his company agreed to co-produce a new movie years ago –– took to social media with a cover page for a version called ‘King Spawn’.
— Jason Blum (@jason_blum) July 22, 2024
What’s the story of ‘Spawn’?
‘Todd McFarlane’s Spawn’. Photo: HBO Animation.
Created in 1992 by McFarlane for Image Comics, the character is a former black-ops agent who makes a deal with a demon after being betrayed and killed. The demon allows him to return to Earth, but when he returns, five years have passed, his wife has moved on, and he roams Earth as a disfigured spawn of hell.
“Born in darkness. Sworn to justice.”
54
1 hr 36 minJul 31st, 1997
What has happened with ‘Spawn’ so far?
Michael Jai White in 1997’s ‘Spawn’. Photo: New Line Cinema.
Spawn has been the subject of a successful animated series and a movie in 1997 that didn’t score with critics or audiences and barely made its money back.
At the San Diego Comic-Con in 2017, McFarlane confirmed that he’d partnered with the Blumhouse team to make an R-rated new movie adaptation.
Yet ever since then, it has been a stream of announcements countered with delays, one-step-forward-two-steps-back momentum and no sign of bigger studio backing.
Jamie Foxx and Jeremy Renner were cast in the lead role of Al Simmons and Twitch Williams, but elsewhere there was talk of endless script re-writes and McFarlane getting frustrated with the process.
It has been a couple of years since our last concrete update –– that would be the hiring of writers Matt Mixon (‘The Milwaukee Project’), Scott Silver (‘Joker’) and Malcolm Spellman (‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ and the upcoming ‘Captain America: Brave New World’).
Related Article: ‘Joker’s Scott Silver and ‘Falcon and Winter Soldier’s Malcolm Spellman to Write ‘Spawn’
What’s next for ‘Spawn’?
‘Todd McFarlane’s Spawn’. Photo: HBO Animation.
Interestingly, McFarlane only has a creator credit here, which doesn’t necessarily bode well for his input going forward. Is he still involved as director? Blum doesn’t say. Will Foxx and Renner still star? Unclear.
But judging from the title, the ‘King Spawn’ script adapts McFarlane’s eponymous run of the comics that launched in 2021.
Here’s what McFarlane told ComicBook.com last year when the writers were announced:
“My original plan has gotten tripped up a bit. We’re bringing on A-list people. Not just one, but multiple A-list people… What they’re not going to want is to do a cheap, low-budget movie with all of these big-name people on it. That’s not why they’re signing up. They’re not looking for a big extravaganza. But they’re also not looking for an 8 million dollar horror movie budget.”
Right now, the script page is all we have. But at least it’s something…
‘Todd McFarlane’s Spawn’. Photo: HBO Animation.