Canada has produced many notable comic book creators in the medium’s history, but few, if any, are more esteemed than Alberta’s Todd McFarlane.
McFarlane launched into the stratosphere of comic book stardom in the 1980s by drawing extensively for Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man, co-creating Eddie Brock and his eventual alter ego, Venom, who is not only one of web-slinger’s most enduring foes, but also ranks amongst the greatest villains in the history of comics. Moving into the early 1990s, McFarlane creates the antihero Spawn, which became a major success story in independent comic book publication, and he is arguably one the most recognizable characters in the medium created outside of Marvel and DC.
For those unfamiliar with the character, Spawn, AKA Al Simmons, was a mercenary betrayed and murdered by those he worked for and was consequently sent to hell for his sins. Simmons is consequently tricked into making a deal with one of the Lords of Hell, the villainous Malebolgia, who made the ex-mercenary a hellspawn, granting him extraordinary abilities and his iconic look in the process. However, Spawn would eventually learn of Malebolgia’s deception and strive to use these hell-borne abilities for his own vision of the greater good.
In August 1997, a mere five years after the character’s first publication, a live action adaptation hit the screens with Michael Jai White in the titular role, while Martin Sheen and John Leguizamo featured in supporting roles. The movie made $87.9 million US on a budget estimated between $40-50 million (which likely doesn’t include the cost of marketing) and received largely negative reviews, though it has nonetheless gained a cult following over the years. Interestingly, there was also an animated HBO adaptation that was released in May that same year, titled Todd McFarlane’s Spawn, which ran for three seasons with McFarlane himself serving as a producer, while legendary actor Keith David voiced the titular antihero. During its run, the show received considerable acclaim and even earned an Emmy award.
McFarlane maintains a deep passion for Spawn and has been working on a live action adaptation of his own as early as 1998, titled King Spawn. This adaptation would not catch the media’s eye again until 2017, when it was announced that Blumhouse Productions were teaming up with McFarlane to make King Spawn, also naming the comic book legend as the writer and director, which would be his cinematic debut. The project seemed to be gaining real momentum when Oscar winner Jamie Foxx was cast in the role, followed later by Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner, who is to play a cop named Twitch. However, not much was heard about the adaptation after that, and many began to wonder if it was even happening anymore, with McFarlane continually insisting that it was. While it is true to this day, things have somewhat changed since.
It was reported in 2022 that Matt Mixon, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s Malcolm Spellman, and Joker’s Scott Silver were hired to write a new script. Silver is particularly interesting, as McFarlane remarked in July that the likes of Joker: Folie à Deux – which Silver returned to co-write with Todd Phillips after collaborating on 2019’s Joker – and Deadpool & Wolverine are the pictures opening doors for even more R-rated comic book adaptations in this era. Admittedly, this was said prior to Folie à Deux’s release, which has been a critical and commercial disaster. Still, McFarlane makes a great point, as Hollywood seems to be paying attention to the success of R-rated comic adaptations in recent years, noting that “I’ve been saying this forever…. They’re just finally going to come around to it.”
Another major change to the film is that McFarlane will no longer serve as the director, who pragmatically recognises the reason he must step down if movie is to be made the way it deserves:
McFarlane understands better than anyone the sacrifices that must be made if his dream adaptation of Spawn is to become a reality, as he has struggled for over 25 years to get this R-rated project off the ground.
As such, it was surely a relief for McFarlane to be able to share the cover page of the first draft of the movie, which he described as “badass”, though it is here where the hunt for a director truly begins. The slated 2025 release date is utterly unrealistic at this time, but if the momentum continues, primarily by locking in a director and revealing some of the other A-list cast members McFarlane has teased, we may finally see King Spawn in 2026.