Believe it or not, it was way back in 2017 when we first learned of Todd McFarlane's plans to team with Blumhouse for a new R-Rated Spawn movie.
Spider-Man: No Way Home star Jamie Foxx boarded the movie in 2018, with Hawkeye's Jeremy Renner tapped to play Twitch Williams later that same year.
Since then, we've had what's felt like an endless series of updates from McFarlane. He's talked about redesigning the hero, possibly selling the reboot to a streaming service, issues with the screenplay, and even enlisted new writers in Scott Silver (Joker), Malcolm Spellman (Captain America: New World Order) and up-and-coming scribe Matthew Mixon.
Despite all of that, the movie is seemingly no closer to becoming a reality.
"There's a script but the writers are, they're not quite sort of satisfied with their own work, which is what all of us creative people are," McFarlane, who once planned to write and direct a lower budgeted version of Spawn, tells ComicBook.com. "We put it on paper and then we criticize ourselves. So they're going through sort of an extensive sort of rework and rewrite of it."
"I was just on the phone a couple of days ago with Scott Silver, the guy who's sort of manning the lead of it right now. He's also the writer of Joker and Joker 2. We're all planning and hoping and moving towards having this done so that we can take it out so that we can find our studio finally pre-Joker 2 launch, which comes in October."
For what it's worth, McFarlane seems confident that the movie will eventually happen and describes Silver as "fearless." He also says Spawn is "not a good guy versus bad guy story" because the writer "doesn't want to replicate what he knows is sort of the safe, probably predictable path that most people would go."
The prolific writer and artist concluded by confirming Spawn will be R-Rated, with McFarlane saying Joker: Folie à Deux and Deadpool & Wolverine will help set the stage for a new take on the anti-hero.
In 2021, we spoke to original Spawn star Michael Jai White and asked for his thoughts on this planned reboot.
"I haven't spoken...I feel like Todd has been talking about a reboot for, I don't know, what, 23 years now? So, it seems to be a talking point [Laughs], but that's all I know. I don't have any control over that, but if I was asked [to cameo], out of sheer respect of me playing Spawn, I would do what I can as thanks to the fans. I don't tend to register Spawn talk any more after hearing it for 23 years!"
Spawn remains the most successful independent comic book ever published and the character previously starred in a 1997 movie starring White and John Leguizamo. However, it was a critical and commercial disappointment.
Stay tuned for updates.