Todd McFarlane is known to Marvel fans as the artist behind The Amazing Spider-Man comic series. In 1992, he co-founded Image Comics and created the anti-hero Spawn, which was one of his earlier high-school projects. After HBO ran with a Spawn animated series, McFarlane has been planning a Spawn movie for over a decade. He teamed up with Blumhouse in 2017 for the film and has an update for fans now.
During his appearance at the San Diego Comic-Con, McFarlane announced that he and producer Jason Blum are ready to meet with directors for the film. On Monday, they posted the first page of the draft on X, sharing the title of the film, King Spawn.
Todd McFarlane Provides An Update Regarding His Long-Awaited Spawn Movie
Todd McFarlane debuted the Spawn comics in 1992, which explores the story of Albert Francis Simmons’ transformation from human to Hellspawn. The character is a badass anti-hero with superhuman strength and speed with near immortality. Michael Jai White portrayed the character on screen in 1997.
When McFarlance planned another film project a decade ago, Jamie Foxx was attached as the lead. The film’s pace has been a concerning factor for McFarlane as he joined forces with Blumhouse in 2017.
Two years ago, they commissioned a script from the skilled trio of Matt Mixon, Malcolm Spellman of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier fame, and Scott Silver of Joker fame. McFarlane shared with THR that they have a completed script now and they will find directors for the project soon.
McFarlane noted that the film won’t have a massive budget, but it would be higher than the usual Blumhouse movies. After they find a suitable director for the project, they will approach studio partners for the film. According to the Image Comics co-founder, the Marvel Studios project Deadpool & Wolverine and the Warner Bros. project Joker: Folie à Deux will pave the way for an R-rated Spawn film.
However, McFarlane’s film is “super serious and dark and gritty”. Calling it a heavy movie, McFarlane shared that the movie would include relevant themes that reflect today’s world. McFarlane shared with THR:
Deadpool is a fun R. Something like Joker 2 is a serious R. Our movie is going to be super serious and dark and gritty. It’s going to be an at times a heavy movie. If you like serious drama, with meaningful themes that are relevant and that may even some reflection of the world we live in, then this has a lot of those elements in it.
McFarlane shared the first page of the draft on X. Speaking about the completed script, McFarlance shared that it was a big hurdle to cross in the development of the film. The two-year work of promising scribes raises the expectation levels of fans.
Todd McFarlane Opens Up About How Deadpool & Wolverine Impacts Spawn
During his appearance at the San Diego Comic-Con, Todd McFarlane shared that he has high expectations for the box office numbers of Deadpool & Wolverine. He shared that the movie would open to giant numbers that would prompt Hollywood to make more R-rated comic book movies. McFarlane shared (via Variety):
That movie is going to open up giant — it’s going to be a giant, giant number. On Monday, it’s going to establish a number that everybody in Hollywood will look at and go, ‘We need to do R-rated comic book fare.’ I’ve been saying this forever. I agree. They’re just finally going to come around to it.
He also expects great things out of the October DC release, Joker 2, where Spawn writer Scott Silver is also involved. Despite expecting Marvel and DC films to set the stage for his film, McFarlane assures fans that Spawn is not a watered-down copy of such Marvel and DC films.
Deadpool & Wolverine hits theaters today, while Joker 2 is scheduled to be released on October 4, 2024.
