Todd McFarlane’s famous hellspawn will soon grace us with his contribution to the resurgent pantheon of superhero movies that we’ve seen arise over the last decade, and things are looking good for fans of the necroplasmic nightcrawler. The comic book legend behind the character recently confirmed that the upcoming Blumhouse-produced Spawn film is adding some impressive names to its team on the latest episode of Joe Quesada’s Mornin’ Warm Up.
Here’s what he had to share:
“I know that people are saying that, ‘Todd, you talk a lot about the movie and the Hollywood stuff and nothing’s really happening,’ and that’s not true. Especially with production being shut down,” said McFarlane.
“I can tell you right now there is momentum going on Spawn, the movie, and I’m not just saying that on my end, I’m saying that the things you need to do to eventually get to the point where you’re going to get into production once COVID allows us to get into production, all those things are going on right now and we’re adding talent, big, big talent that we haven’t announced yet. I wish I could but I can’t.”
Although McFarlane’s statements are lamentably lacking in hints as to who this “big talent” could be referring to, the hero’s name is one that’s important to many big names in Hollywood. One example is Michael Jai White, whose breakout role was as the star of the original Spawn movie back in 1997 and whose recent vehicles include the Black Dynamite film and cartoon as well as the recent Undercover Brother 2. Perhaps he could return to play the role of a mentor figure like Richard Roundtree in the 2019 Shaft reboot, or at least a small cameo à la Franco Nero in Django Unchained.
Spawn was also portrayed by Emmy and Tony award-winning actor Keith David in both the 1997 animated HBO series of the same name and the 2019 video game Mortal Kombat 11. He’s given classic performances in such films as Platoon, Requiem For a Dream and The Frog Princess and has cited Spawn as one of his all-time favorite roles on Twitter. He and White would be perfect for appearances in the upcoming movie, too, as each is a guaranteed two-for-one deal of a stellar performance and a great easter egg for longtime fans.
Whoever this big talent is though, it looks like we’ll have to wait a long time to see them in action. As of yet, there’s no release date or even timeframe for when production on Spawn will get going. But if one thing’s for certain, it’s that McFarlane will continue to build the hype.
