Comic book fans have a lot to rejoice this year at San Diego Comic-Con. Among all of the news and announcements, comic artist Todd McFarlane had a very special announcement to make. For years, McFarlane has talked about wanting to do something with Spawn, his original character who appeared in and was published by Image Comics. And now the wait is finally over.
McFarlane announced that he will be teaming with Split and Get Out production company Blumhouse to write and direct a new R-rated Spawn reboot. The anti-hero first appeared in comics way back in 1992 in his own title series, quickly picking up popularity. Currently, McFarlane has the first draft of the script completed and will be making his directorial debut with the project.
“Having worked with many visionary directors, I think Todd’s unique artistic talents will only add to his role as director of this film,” Jason Blum of Blumhouse productions said. This will be the first time Blumhouse has delved into the world of superheroes, a production company known for their work in the horror genre. But the mixture of Spawn and Blumhouse actually makes a lot of sense. Last year, McFarlane said he only wanted to make an R-rated reboot if he could write, direct and produce.
“We’ve gone from the theoretical to now we’re making movies,” McFarlane said during a Facebook live video. “Blumhouse. Spawn. Badass. R. Get ready for it, we’re going into production. No more talking, it’s time to do.”
This isn’t the first time the character will hit cinemas, though. The character of Spawn actually did receive his very own film in 1997, for those of you that remember. Actor Michael Jai White as Albert Francis “Al” Simmons, aka Spawn. The cast included John Leguizamo, Martin Sheen and Theresa Randle. However, the film ended up being both a commercial and critical failure for New Line Cinema.
Following that, any chance of a sequel, which McFarlane wanted, were squashed. The sequel fell into development hell and it’s remained that way ever since. But despite all this, there was an HBO animated miniseries, titled Todd McFarlane’s Spawn, with Keith David voicing the character.
Stay tuned with all of our Comic-Con coverage to check out the latest announcements and news.
