Despite languishing in development-hell for years, veteran make-up artist Greg Nicotero has offered an update Todd McFarlane's Spawn reboot, comparing its tone to the 90s animated show. Created by McFarlane in 1992, Spawn is a gritty anti-hero originally named Albert Francis Simmons. A former CIA agent, Simmons is killed and sent to hell where he strikes a deal with the demon Malebolgia that allows him to return to Earth as a Hellspawn where he battles organized crime in New York City, as well as other demons and angels. A film adaptation starring Michael Jai White was released in 1997 but was critically panned; however the animated series, Todd McFarlane's Spawn which ran from 1997 to 1999 and starred Keith David went on to win two Emmys during its run.
Originally announced in 2015, McFarlane will be serving as the director of the Spawn reboot, having also penned the script. In 2018, it was announced that Jamie Foxx will star in the lead role opposite Avengers' Jeremy Renner, with the film described as low-budget and David Fincher-inspired. Unfortunately, the project has struggled to get off the ground and is seemingly caught in development hell at production company Blumhouse, the force behind numerous horror films including the Halloween reboot. However the success of Joker in 2019 has reportedly breathed new life into the film, with production restarting as a result of the R-rated film's success.
While there has been little word on the reboot of late, Nicotero, who has served as a make-up artist on The Walking Dead for several years and co-founded the KNB EFX Group that won an Academy award for its work on Suicide Squad in 2017, has provided an update. Speaking to Comicbook.com, Nicotero said that McFarlane is still greatly passionate about Spawn and he wants the film to be "kind of gritty down and dirty". Most notably, the artist said that the plan is for the film to "feel more like the animated show, where it's like Spawn meets David Fincher". You can read Nicotero's full statement below:
"We have designs ... [McFarlane] came in, and he said, 'Look, we're doing this thing, and it's going to be low budget, and it's kind of down and dirty. And I want it to feel more like the animated show, where it's like Spawn meets David Fincher. He wanted to do this kind of gritty down and dirty thing. And so, we did a lot of concept work here. We did a bunch of design busts and a lot of really, really cool stuff. And then it kind of stalled. Every once in a while, I'll reach out and go, 'Hey'. I'll look at the busts in my office and be like, 'Hey, Todd, what's going on with this? Are we ever going to make this?' Because I'm really in love with the design work we did. Look, I hope it will happen. I know he's very passionate about it. And look, if you really think about Spawn, Todd McFarland was way ahead of his time, man, way out of his time in terms of what he did with that character. I really do feel that there's a world where there's a great Spawn movie out there."
From the sounds of things, everyone involved is eager to get work started on the Spawn reboot with Nicotero himself even saying that he's "in love with the design work" that he and his team have done. It's understandable why producers may be apprehensive about taking a gamble on an R-rated superhero film, but as has been proven by the runaway success of Joker, as well as other titles like Deadpool, there is certainly a market for such films. Superhero films tend be of a somewhat more sanitized nowadays, in part due to the domination of the MCU and its wide-audience appeal. As such, there has been a desire for darker superhero films, although those that have been made have been divisive, a la Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman. There are hopes that Spawn can remedy that.
Spawn still has a significant fan following and the character is often found on lists of greatest comic characters. Moreover, fans have been clamoring for the return of Spawn to the big screen, and Nicotero's assertion that the film will be closer to tone and scope to the animated series will only build more hype around the project. The on-set of the COVID-19 pandemic likely hasn't helped matter in terms of the getting production started, but hopefully as things begin to returning normal this will change and will gain more information on Spawn in the coming months.
Source: Comicbook.com