Spawn isn’t a particularly good movie, but it was the first film with an African American actor portraying a major comic book superhero, so it’s an important one. Twenty-one years later, following the impressive box office success of Black Panther ($1.3 billion), Spawn, which follows veteran Al Simmons who’s brought back to life as the titular antihero, is getting another chance.
Oscar winner Jamie Foxx is set to star in the Blumhouse feature from director Todd McFarlane, who created the character for Image Comics (and used the money to buy baseballs). “Spawn [is about] a black-ops agent who is betrayed and murdered, his soul sent to hell for all the innocents he killed,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. “While there, he makes a deal with a demon who allows him to return to the earthly plane and his wife. However, five years have now passed, and his wife has moved on, while he is a disfigured and superpowered spawn of hell.” No other casting info has been made public.
McFarlane previously called his Spawn movie a “dark, R-rated, scary, badass sort of script” that’s “more into horror/suspense/supernatural genre,” which explains Blumhouse’s involvement. Hopefully there’s another animated series in the works, too.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)