Spawn Reboot Won't Be an Origin Story

Screen Rant

Spawn Movie Reboot Won't Retell the Character's Origin Story

By David Stephens

Published Oct 17, 2017

Todd McFarlane is adamant that his new reboot film of Spawn will not be another origin story and will deal with his evolution instead.

The creator of supernatural superhero Spawn has revealed a few more details about the upcoming reboot, and his determination not to repeat the mistakes of the critically panned 1997 New Line film. In a recent interview Todd McFarlane hinted at the tone and format for his script of the movie, and probably to the delight of many fans, categorically stated that it will not be another origin story.

Spawn - who is also known as deceased Marine Al Simmons - was first created and introduced to the printed page by McFarlane in May 1992. A vigilante character with a finite source of power, he instantly became a hit. The 1997 movie adaptation stars Michael Jai White in the title role, and is a basic origin story. It covers Simmon's Faustian pact with Malebolgia, a ruler of hell who creates his super-powered alter-ego. However Spawn rebels against his demonic influences and becomes a force for justice as the film ends. It received a wealth of negative reviews, and despite making a worldwide profit of over $87m from a budget of $40m, the sequel was in it's own version of hell for 20 years.

That was until McFarlane was recently announced as the writer and director for a reboot of the character, which is being made in conjunction with Blumhouse productions. Although specific plot details are yet to appear, and any casting is yet to be announced, he has been dropping hints about what to expect ever since. Speaking to Yahoo! Entertainment, at this year's New York Comic Con, the artist/writer/director gave this response when he was asked if the new film would be another origin story:

"I always come back to Jaws - not that I have a shark in Spawn! But that shark was enormous. And at anytime in the movie, did they tell me why the shark was so damn big? No! Did it matter to me? No! All that mattered was that it was big and in the same vicinity as humans. Or John Carpenter's The Thing: where do the aliens come from? I don't know! What was its reason for taking over bodies? I don't know! It just was. I'm okay without an origin. Just give me a compelling story, scare the s*** out off me from time to time, and I'm along for the ride... To me, this story is my way of saying, 'Spawn's been around for 25 years, and he's been evolving for 25 years. This is where he's at now'. I can't do the same story over and over."

It's not the first time that McFarlane has compared the R-rated film to Jaws. And it makes sense in a certain way. It indicates that Spawn will be a shadowy influence on the story and interact with the main character - said to be Detective Twitch Williams from the comics - rather than focusing solely on the hellish superhero himself. This would also fit in with the dark and nasty tone that he intends to give it, and would enable the film to remain at a fairly low-budget level.

Longtime fans will be glad to hear those words, as another origin film would be unwarranted for them. Some characters definitely require a whole movie devoted to their backstory. Doctor Strange certainly needed that for example. But Spider-Man: Homecoming proved that a reboot doesn't always need a re-telling of their origin as well. We hope that this proves to be the case as well for this character. Spawn will start shooting in February 2018 with a release expected in 2019.