While many cite 1998's Blade as the real beginning of the current wave of superhero movies we're living in today, don't forget the smaller 1997 film Spawn, which came from the top-selling Image Comics title that Todd McFarlane has been riding to the bank ever since 1992. Spawn was the first film to feature a black comic book superhero, and while the film did well in theaters (pulling in almost $88 million on a $40 million budget), the sequel to the film has been sitting in development hell for the last 18 years.
For those who aren't aware, Todd McFarlane has been in the comics business since the late 1980s. He got his fame with his work on Spider-Man but left with a number of Marvel's top guns (including Deadpool-creator Rob Liefeld) to start Image Comics in 1992. Image has been the home of some of the most critically-acclaimed comic books, from The Walking Dead and The Maxx (both of which have been turned into television series) to Sex Criminals and The Wicked + The Divine (both of which have been talked about being turned into television series).
McFarlane was reportedly not satisfied with the New Line Cinema original and has been talking about making a new version since 2009, although at that point he'd been thinking about the story for seven or eight years prior. While there is currently no actual plans set in stone for his Spawn reboot, McFarlane was recently featured on Kevin Smith's AMC program Geeking Out and promised a "dark, R-rated, scary, badass sort of script." We don't want to be the one to say it, but we wonder if Deadpool's hard R-rated success might have cleared the way for this Spawn project.
There were a few shots at "PG-13" superhero films "with rayguns and headquarters," and he says not to expect a dude in a "rubber suit." In other words, "this won't be your usual Marvel/DC Comics/Fox superhero film." The question is: will Spawn end up getting the push it needs to compete in a world jam-packed with superhero movies from the Marvel, DC, and Fox extended universes?
