Spawn director Todd McFarlane feels emotion will play a big part in driving his movie reboot. McFarlane created the Spawn comic in the early 1990s, where it fast became a success thanks to its gorgeous artwork and macabre storylines. A movie version arrived in 1997, but despite some decent action and a good lead performance by Michael Jai White, it was dragged down by a poor script and murky visuals.

While the movie was a modest hit, fans didn't exactly clamor for a sequel. McFarlane announced his intentions to reboot the series with a low budget, R-rated Spawn movie he would write and direct. The creator talked up the project for close to a decade yet it never seemed to get any closer to reality, until horror heavyweights Blumhouse (The Purge, Get Out) announced they would produce the movie. Jamie Foxx has also signed on to play the title role.

Related: Spawn: Jamie Foxx Confirmed To Star In Movie Reboot

McFarlane has spoken many times of his version for the movie, revealing it will be a psychological horror movie where Spawn himself is the only fantastical element. Now the director says in a new interview with Comic Book that he's focused on conveying the emotion of the characters above all else.

What I will be married to is what the scene or the emotion of the scene is supposed to convey. So, if I can keep that emotion, and you tell me that we have to shoot that outdoors or indoors, that's sorta secondary to me. I'm going, 'Cool, as long as I can get what I want. As long as I can get the emotion, I can get the beat, if you're saying that we can shoot this faster by doing it as an exterior shot, and we can do it in five hours instead of doing it inside for ten hours, I don't care.

McFarlane will also be eagerly listening to his Oscar-winning lead actor while shooting.

He's got a lot of thoughts on what he wants to do and how to do it. He's also very kind to go, 'At the end of the day, Todd, it's still your movie.' It's like I'm gonna be picking his brain as much as possible, and whoever else I get on the set. Not only just the actors but also the editors and my cinematographer and everybody. Look, I'm gonna be arguably the most naïve, dumb guy on the set every day. So, as somebody who's been a CEO for decades now, the way to sort of make things work is just surround yourself with good people and give them ownership and give them input into the project.

Spawn is the latest in an ever-increasing list of comic book movie projects that are leaning towards the horror genre. Other upcoming examples include Tom Hardy's Venom movie – which will be inspired by the body horror movies of the 1980s – and X-Men spinoff The New Mutants. The success of R-rated projects like Logan has shown fans are ready for darker takes on comic book material, and from the sound of it, the new Spawn will be an intense ride.

The Spawn reboot will also set itself apart from other comic book movies by having a much lower budget, and the title character won't actually speak during the movie. McFarlane has done a good job hyping up his fanbase with his vision for the project, so hopefully, he'll be able to deliver on his ambitious plans for the new Spawn.

More: Spawn Will Have A Special Way Of Communicating In The Reboot

Source: Comic Book