It’s been twenty years since “Spawn” stalked the big screen, and fans have been waiting for the character to return in an adaptation more suited to its comic book origins. Well, it’s finally happening, with none other than creator Todd MacFarlane, himself, making his directorial debut, with horror shingle Blumhouse backing the picture. Sounds pretty good, but MacFarlane’s movie might not feature much of the title character at all.
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In an interview with Vulture, the comic book writer and director revealed that Spawn will stalk the corners of the film, but won’t take the center stage.
“The lead isn’t really Spawn, which was always sort of odd when I was pitching it for years and years to Hollywood,” MacFarlane explained. “I’m not going to ever have Spawn in a latex suit standing there going, ‘I am here, boys and girls, and I will save you and your day will be grand.’ ”
Instead, the aspiring filmmaker likens his movie to Steven Spielberg‘s “Jaws,” where Spawn will be the catalyst for narrative momentum in the picture and pop-up like “a shark in black water” throughout the movie.
It’s an ambitious concept, though who knows if fans who have been waiting forever for Spawn to come back to cinemas will like it if the character is continually pulled back. Then again, it could be pretty cool if Spawn is a menace, striking at a central group of characters from off-screen. At a certain level, you gotta admire MacFarlane’s confidence. Speaking of which, he wants Leonardo DiCaprio (or someone of his caliber) to lead the movie….
Check out MacFarlane’s comments below.