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Todd McFarlane Says an Oscar Winner Wants to Take on 'Spawn' Movie
by Ethan Anderton
February 19, 2013
Source: MTV
Back in 1997, Michael Jai White brought the dark fantasy comic book character Spawn to life. The film wasn't a runaway success making just over $84 million worldwide on a $40 million budget, so comic creator Todd McFarlane has been trying to get a new film franchise off the ground. For years McFarlane has been talking about bringing Spawn back to the big screen, and in an interview with MTV (via Cinema Blend) at the TIA Toy Fair, he again mentioned his continued efforts, touting that an Oscar winning actor keeps calling him every few weeks. Apparently the plan involves doing multiple movies, likely with a lot of CGI.
For those who are unaware, Spawn is the hellish resurrected alter ego of a man named Al Simmons, a highly trained assassin who was considered the best. But his superiors decided that he knew too much as he started to question their actions and decided to have him killed. After his death, Simmons made a deal to sell his soul to a Demonic Being known as Malebolgia to get to see his wife again. He was allowed to return to the real world, but was deceivingly sent back five years later as some kind of strange Hellspawn with no memory of what he had done. But slowly, he figures out his past, and seeks revenge.
Honestly, here's no greater self-hype machine than Todd McFarlane, but he says that this unnamed actor is, "Every three weeks he’s on the phone going, ‘Todd, where’s the script? Todd, where’s the script?’” And he adds, "The pitch I gave was that we could do ten of these for the next ten years and he wouldn’t have to be 22 for the rest of his life.” That sounds like quite the heavy amount of special effects, but if we never see Spawn outside of his suit, then it's not hard to imagine how that would be possible without doing anti-aging effects or a fully computer generated younger actor like Jeff Bridges in Tron Legacy.
So who could this unnamed actor be? Well, considering the lead character in the comic book is black, if we take that into consideration with the Oscar winning element, our options become easy to sift through. The most obvious choice is Jamie Foxx. In fact, the actor visited McFarlane's offices, and made it clear that he's a big fan of Spawn. However, someone like Foxx has to be sifting through tons of offers all the time, and I can't imagine him bugging someone like McFarlane for this kind of film, especially now that he's playing Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. But again, it's not out of the question, and even seems likely.
But other African American Academy Award winning actors like Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr. seem like they might need a career boost, and a comic book property like this could help. For now though, the project is just a pipe dream, and McFarlane has been talking about this Oscar winning actor expressing interest for a couple of years, mentioning the same fact on Chris Hardwick's Nerdist podcast. Take all this with a grain of salt and don't expect any immediate development, but the prospect of Spawn getting another film adaptation is at least intriguing. What do you think?
Reader Feedback - 33 Comments
1
its probably Djimon Hounsou
Anon on Feb 19, 2013
2
He didn't win the oscar. probably terrence since he got cut off from Ironman
truong18 on Feb 19, 2013
4
While the article concentrates on WHO will play "Spawn," my interest lies in the script. For a fairly unknown property to appeal to a wide audience, it must do what "Ironman" did: put together a story of surpassing quality. (That means you let a screenwriter take over, Todd.)
Corpse Bride on Feb 19, 2013
7
A friend of mine crushed his LaserDisc after viewing SPAWN and sent it to McFarlane. In anger of course. I'd bet Terrence Howard, think he feels foolish for his "antics" surrounding Iron Man and $'s, and wants back in on the comicbook game. But Idris Elba would be great 😉
David Banner on Feb 19, 2013
8
Dammit, I was goona make the joke that it was Cuba and then... there it was. Opportunity lost.
DaneF on Feb 19, 2013
9
I hope they do I have spawn 1-11 in a trunk somewhere and maybe they will go up in value....
frank on Feb 19, 2013
11
If they are slabbed, first run/printing, CGC 9.9 or 10; then yes they are worth something. Not enough to pay those student loans, but maybe a new HDTV. They sold millions each, so actually not worth that much. Goes for 98/100 '90's comics.
David Banner on Feb 19, 2013
12
Terrence Howard didn't win an Oscar so that eliminates him from consideration
Avon on Feb 19, 2013
13
Hustle and Flow
That_guy_who_says_stuff on Feb 19, 2013
14
correction: He was nominated for it but lost out to I believe it was Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote.
Bagels R Good on Feb 19, 2013
15
Foxx
311 on Feb 19, 2013
16
I'd rather see Terrance Howard than Jammie Fox, not having him as War Machine in Iron man 2 was a bummer. Plus i can't take Jammie Fox serious, i always remember him from Living colour and not as a serious actor. Terrance reminds me of Lando a much more cooler character
Christopher Philip Cinquegrano on Feb 19, 2013
17
I would like Howard for the role, Hustle and Flow showed that he can play a good tough guy and balance that with a range of other personas. Foxx is solid in Django Unchained though, and I say that as someone who was very skeptical of his casting.
clalor on Feb 19, 2013
18
The only problem is that Terrance Howard never won an Academy Award for acting, so he's out. The only African Americans to ever win an Oscar for acting were Sidney Poitier; Denzel Washington; Jamie Foxx; Forest Whitaker; Louis Gosset, Jr.; Cuba Gooding, Jr.; and Morgan Freeman. And of those the only ones that could maybe pull it off are Foxx, Whitaker (much slimmer nowadays) or Washington.
Thexn on Feb 19, 2013
21
Ha ha, you are all sexist AND racist... the Oscar winning 'actor' in question is Marissa Tomei. Oh and for all you doubters, go see The Wrestler! She still has an amazing body and could easily pull of the skin-tight outfit of SPAWN.
Akirakorn on Feb 19, 2013
22
So...you're saying that assuming they'll cast a black actor to play a black character is racist...and that casting a male actor to play a male character... is sexist? Just so we can all get on the same page here.
prantsdagger on Feb 19, 2013
24
Are you retarded I'm very sorry but spawn Al Simmons is a man. So she is out.
J-Daddy on Apr 12, 2013
25
Morgan Freeman 😀
redskulllives on Feb 19, 2013
26
Denzel would be epic
1AmNoOne on Feb 19, 2013
27
I'd love to see Idris Elba or Denzel cast as Spawn. Those two would be insane.
Blake on Feb 19, 2013
28
I just hope its better than that first piece of shit they made. As a fan of the comic at the time, that thing was horrendous.
grimjob on Feb 19, 2013
29
we need someone that can fight like micheal jay white or some kind of wesley snipes , washington to old and made more for drama or a cop even fbi agent.terrance not made for runing in a costume, jamie fox could do the job but dont think he will be credible , cuba good but old too hum i was thinking about Jason Momoa or Shemar Moore from Criminal Minds he would be a good choice , not looking too young and well seem to be athletic and well trained what do you think about that if you dont know who he is here the link :http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005245/
Yannick Decoste on Feb 19, 2013
30
I was such a huge fan of the comic book! Loved it and the Spawn character was in my top 5 favorite super heroes at the time. As crazy talented as Todd McFarlane is, he is a control freak to his detriment. The movie in 97 was absolute garbage! I don't remember which came first the movie or the animated mini series but I thought the series would be so bad ass! It was total garbage as well! McFarlane should stick to making comic books and toys. Leave the movies alone or maybe the 3rd time is the charm?
Crazy Legs on Feb 20, 2013
31
Idris Elba
Hectic129 on Mar 15, 2013
33
Idris Elba, obviously.
John on Aug 25, 2013
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