As promised, Spawn creator Todd McFarlane dropped some big news on the planned Spawn movie reboot this afternoon, ending a long period of radio silence on the project.
THR reports that Blumhouse is still on board the ship, with Scott Silver (Joker), Malcolm Spellman (Falcon and the Winter Soldier) and Matthew Mixom now writing the script.
THR also notes, “Jamie Foxx remains attached to star as the anti-hero, who was first introduced in the comics in 1992, with McFarlane among the film’s producers.”
Jeremy Renner had previously been attached to co-star alongside Jamie Foxx, but THR’s report indicates that Renner’s involvement in the film is up in the air at the moment.
It’s been a long hard road out of development hell with his brand new Spawn feature, which Todd McFarlane had originally planned to direct. It seems he’s stepped aside from those desires, however, with a new director not yet attached to the project. At this time, the Blumhouse project is seeking a studio partner, so this is still a developing story at the moment.
“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?” McFarlane tells The Hollywood Reporter. “The answer is, ‘of course.’ Let’s keep the momentum going.”
“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,” says Spellman in a statement. “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.”
Spawn first appeared in Spawn #1 back in May 1992. The character first came to the screen with a 1997 movie from New Line starring Michael Jai White, and he got the animated series treatment courtesy of HBO in the late 1990s. Keith David voiced Spawn in the series.
In the comics, Spawn 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.