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‘Spawn’ Artist Jason Shawn Alexander: The Horror News Network Interview

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Not many people in May of 1992 would have believed that a character that debuted as one of the cornerstones of an upstart comic book company, Image Comics, would make it all the way to 2019 with 300 issues of his flagship title alone.  Spawn (and his creator Todd McFarlane) became synonymous with Image Comics and fans have continued to support the title due to their love for the dark character that straddled the line between super hero and horror film conventions.

The intricate, instantly recognizable artwork of Todd McFarlane and Greg Capulo immediately captured fans’ attention since the comic’s beginnings, and many accomplished artists have followed in their stead.  Since 2017, Eisner-nominated illustrator Jason Shawn Alexander has handled the art duties, and as we near the 300th issue of Spawn, Horror News Network reached out to Alexander to get his take on the milestone, as well as his contributions to the Spawn legacy. read more

Greg Nicotero and KNB EFX Join ‘Spawn’

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McFarlane announced today that The Walking Dead’s director/sfx artist Greg Nicotero has officially joined the new Spawn film to design the titular character. This reunites Todd McFarlane with Nicotero as they both worked together on 1997’s Spawn.

“I’m a long-time fan of Greg’s work and the projects his company, KNB have done throughout the years,” said McFarlane “Working with him once again, to re-invent the Spawn ‘look’ so it will match the supernatural theme in the movie, is going to be a fun process.” read more

Todd McFarlane Tweaks Character Design of Upcoming ‘Venom’ Movie in New Video

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Todd McFarlane- the legendary comic book artist behind the original character design of Venom- seems pretty hyped about how his creation will look in the upcoming Sony Pictures film starring Tom Hardy. In a new Facebook Live video, McFarlane praises the design of the character, such as his ape-like shoulders and imposing size. He also tweaks a screenshot taken from the new trailer for the film and makes a few adjustments to show his fans how the design could look more like his original work. McFarlane’s version features slightly different eyes and more gnarled teeth, with the back fangs being slightly more hidden by his cheeks. You can watch the entire process for yourself below: read more

McFarlane Toys to Produce ‘Cuphead’ Toy Line

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CUPHEAD mania will be jumping off of the screens of game consoles and into toy store shelves everywhere soon enough!  McFarlane Toys, in a press release on Tuesday July 17th, officially announced the acquisition of yet another toy license that began as a game and has quickly transcended pop-culture lore.  Following in the footsteps of Five Nights at Freddy’s and Hello Neighbor, the toy and action figure super-company will begin production on Construction Sets modeled after the wildly popular game Cuphead.  Spawn himself would be proud. read more

Jeremy Renner Will Play Detective Twitch Williams in New ‘Spawn’ Film

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Todd McFarlane’s Spawn film is shaping up to be a lot more promising than initially expected, as it was announced today by Deadline that Jeremy Renner has been cast as Detective Twitch Williams, alongside Jamie Foxx as the title character in the upcoming film.

McFarlane told Deadline that he “… wanted to surround (him)self with the most talent and the most skilled people I can on all fronts. I was lucky enough to land Jason Blum and then Jamie Foxx, and I knew the person on screen the most is this police officer, Twitch Williams. We needed as strong a person as possible because he will be the face of the film. I took my naïve Hollywood approach again, and said let’s start at the top and work down. Jeremy was at the top. I’m a huge fan of his. The character doesn’t need to be a bodybuilder or GQ handsome. I was looking for somebody who’s a person you’ve met before; I needed someone who can pull off the grief of an average human being. I’ve seen Jeremy do that in more than a few of his movies. He was at the top of my list, just like Jamie.” read more

Jamie Foxx to Play ‘Spawn’ in McFarlane’s Reboot

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It appears that a long-rumored cinematic reboot of a beloved comic book is on the verge of finally happening, and that an Academy Award winner will be headlining the cast.  According to an exclusive report from Deadline, artist/toy magnate/historical baseball dealer Todd McFarlane has selected Jamie Foxx to play the part of the title character in the upcoming production of Spawn.  Based on the immensely-popular comic book series created by McFarlane in 1992, this version of Spawn will be the second theatrical release of the comic saga following 1997’s film distributed by New Line Cinema.  This time around, McFarlane will produce the movie with Blumhouse Productions. read more

Todd McFarlane Says Spawn Will Not Speak in Upcoming Movie

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As creator/director Todd McFarlane and horror mega-producer Jason Blum continue along on their new movie project based upon McFarlane’s Spawn comic book series, we are beginning to hear more and more about what the movie will be like. We already knew that the plan from the start is to create a hard-R rated film with strong horror elements on a low budget. Now, Todd McFarlane is starting to talk about what that might look like- or sound like- on the big screen. It turns out, Spawn won’t speak during the entire film! read more

Todd McFarlane Announces Partnership with Blumhouse to Produce R-Rated ‘Spawn’ Movie

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Back in early May, Todd McFarlane announced to his fans that he’d pretty much finished a script for an R-rated movie based on his popular Spawn comic book series. At the time, he promised there would be more concrete news on the project in the coming months. Therefore, it’s no surprise that he took to San Diego Comic Con to unleash some big news… he’s partnered with Jason Blum of Blumhouse to bring the movie to a theater near you!

In a video published today by IMDb, McFarlane spoke with Kevin Smith about his plans for the film. He revealed that he will be producing the movie in partnership with Blumhouse, and that he will also direct the film. This will be McFarlane’s first project as a director of a feature film, but he has experience directing Pearl Jam, Korn, and Disturbed music videos in the late 90’s and 2000’s. He is intentionally aiming for a low budget with few special effects so he can retain creative control and deliver a darker and edgier flick than the typical superhero movie spinoff. In McFarlane’s own words, the new Spawn film will be “dark and gnarly and gritty.” read more

Todd McFarlane Provides Status Update on Spawn Movie Script

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Todd McFarlane, the legendary comic book artist and co-founder of Image Comics, took to the internets to provide a status update for fans on the upcoming Spawn movie. Using a webcam that appears to have been released the same year as Spawn #1, McFarlane shared directly with fans that his rough draft of the script is completed, and he’s currently trimming it to approximately 120 pages. He then introduced page six of the script before stating, “Obviously, it’s not gonna be my best page. It’s not gonna have a lotta good Spawn stuff on it.” Eagle-eyed viewers might be able to pick out a few sentences despite the low resolution of the video. read more

Todd McFarlane Announces New Darker Spawn Film

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Todd McFarlane announced today via a preview clip from Kevin Smith’s AMC talk show Geeking Out that he is currently working on a darker, more faithful Spawn film.  McFarlane was interviewed by Tiffany Smith and when asked if a new film was on the horizon he stated “The simple answer is yes,”.  McFarlane also said that the film would be “a dark, R-rated, scary, badass sort of script.”

He also told Smith that “the world’s going to be real, except for one thing that’s going to move,” and that “you’re never going to see a dude in a rubber suit….This is going to be my Jaws shark,”. read more