Spawn Reboot Eyeing Jamie Foxx For Lead Role

Back in 1997, covert government assassin Al Simmons was introduced to the moviegoing masses as Spawn, a vengeful, supernatural hero hell-bent on bringing his former employer, Jason Wynn (Martin Sheen), down to size.

Helmed by Mark Dippe, the cult actioner proved to be a decidedly different spin on the superhero format, even if it failed to resonate with viewers. But Todd McFarlane’s long-gestating reboot offers Al Simmons another shot at the big time, and it seems the writer, director and all-around comic book veteran has his eye on some big name talent for Blumhouse’s Spawn movie.

According to That Hashtag Show, an offer has been put out to The Amazing Spider-Man 2 star Jamie Foxx for the lead role, that of Al Simmons. Of course, this isn’t the first time that the actor’s flirted with the project, as back in 2013, he was pushing hard for the part before the film failed to materialize. Now, however, the Spawn reboot is good to go and we might just see Foxx star in it, should he decide to take the role. If he does, we imagine things will start to come together very, very quickly.

Tethered to an R rating, there’s a tremendous amount of buzz surrounding the project at the moment, as it’s seemingly a “dark” and “nasty” rendition of the titular hellspawn. It’ll also take a page out of Jaws‘ book in the sense that Spawn will be used sparingly. Because if New Line’s recent It reboot proved anything, it’s that a movie monster tends to lose its shock value the longer it spends on screen.

“I always come back to Jaws — not that I have a shark in Spawn! But that shark was enormous,” said McFarlane in a recent interview. “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 OK without an origin. Just give me a compelling story, scare the shit out of me from time to time, and I’m along for the ride.

We’ll be bringing you all the latest news pertaining to Todd McFarlane’s Spawn revival as more information comes to light, so keep your cursors pointed in the direction of We Got This Covered for more.