Todd McFarlane's 'Spawn' Movie and Its Hellish Road to Reboot
- 6 years ago
Hell must have frozen over because it looks like Todd McFarlane’s long-awaited ‘Spawn’ movie reboot is finally happening. Kya Quinn is here to explain what the devil took so long.
It’s been 20 years since the first ‘Spawn’ movie hit theaters, but creator Todd McFarlane has been hard at work on a ‘Spawn’ reboot for the past decade. Why such a long wait for the ‘Spawn’ remake? It all starts with Image Comics. In the ‘90s, no one was a bigger influence on Spider-Man than Todd McFarlane. Spider-Man wasn’t enough, though. He left Marvel and took a bunch of their superstar artists with him: Jim Lee, Erik Larsen, and Rob Liefeld. Image Comics was born, and Todd McFarlane’s ‘Spawn’ was their biggest hit by far.
A few years later, McFarlane sold the rights to a ‘Spawn’ movie for one dollar, including merchandise rights and full control of the character. Still, the first ‘Spawn’ movie had to be a disappointment when the PG-13 rating came in. A PG-13? For ‘Spawn’?! Actor selection wasn’t a problem. Michael Jai White was an awesome Spawn, and the John Leguizamo clown gives me nightmares to this day. But the effects were terrible, and the story was kind of a mess. Maybe he’d have better luck with a ‘Spawn’ cartoon?
‘Spawn: The Animated Series’ on HBO was one of the most shocking shows on TV in the ‘90s, and that’s saying something. Dark, violent and definitely R-rated, the ‘Spawn’ HBO Series set a new bar for mature animation. It only lasted three seasons, and outside of ‘Spawn’ games and ‘Spawn’ action figures, the demonic anti-hero has been MIA on screen for a long time. But now, McFarlane finally has the opportunity to write and direct a new ‘Spawn’ live-action movie. He’s planning for a smaller, lower budget horror film where ‘Spawn’ isn’t even the main character. It’s an interesting choice, but it makes perfect sense for an untested director. Hopefully, he makes a truly hellish ‘Spawn’ movie.
It’s been 20 years since the first ‘Spawn’ movie hit theaters, but creator Todd McFarlane has been hard at work on a ‘Spawn’ reboot for the past decade. Why such a long wait for the ‘Spawn’ remake? It all starts with Image Comics. In the ‘90s, no one was a bigger influence on Spider-Man than Todd McFarlane. Spider-Man wasn’t enough, though. He left Marvel and took a bunch of their superstar artists with him: Jim Lee, Erik Larsen, and Rob Liefeld. Image Comics was born, and Todd McFarlane’s ‘Spawn’ was their biggest hit by far.
A few years later, McFarlane sold the rights to a ‘Spawn’ movie for one dollar, including merchandise rights and full control of the character. Still, the first ‘Spawn’ movie had to be a disappointment when the PG-13 rating came in. A PG-13? For ‘Spawn’?! Actor selection wasn’t a problem. Michael Jai White was an awesome Spawn, and the John Leguizamo clown gives me nightmares to this day. But the effects were terrible, and the story was kind of a mess. Maybe he’d have better luck with a ‘Spawn’ cartoon?
‘Spawn: The Animated Series’ on HBO was one of the most shocking shows on TV in the ‘90s, and that’s saying something. Dark, violent and definitely R-rated, the ‘Spawn’ HBO Series set a new bar for mature animation. It only lasted three seasons, and outside of ‘Spawn’ games and ‘Spawn’ action figures, the demonic anti-hero has been MIA on screen for a long time. But now, McFarlane finally has the opportunity to write and direct a new ‘Spawn’ live-action movie. He’s planning for a smaller, lower budget horror film where ‘Spawn’ isn’t even the main character. It’s an interesting choice, but it makes perfect sense for an untested director. Hopefully, he makes a truly hellish ‘Spawn’ movie.