Spawn fans rejoice: Todd McFarlane, creator of the hellish Image Comics antihero Spawn, announced on Friday that he will be writing and directing a new film about the character.
Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions, the studio behind “Get Out,” “The Purge,” and “Split,” will produce.
“Having worked with many visionary directors, I think Todd’s unique artistic talents will only add to his role as director of this film,” Blum said in statement.
McFarlane, who will be making his directorial debut with this project, has already written the first draft of the script, and his film division, McFarlane Films, will co-produce with Blumhouse.
This will be the second Spawn film, following the 1997 adaptation starring Michael Jai White as Al Francis, the black-ops U.S. Marine who is killed in battle and sent to hell for his war crimes, only to be transformed into Spawn after making a deal with an demon lord named Malebogia.
Directed by Mark A.Z. Dippe, it was the first superhero film to feature a black actor in the lead role.
Spawn was one of the most popular comic book characters of the 1990s, when antiheroes were popular among readers. The peak of his popularity came in the late 90s, when he was the subject of an acclaimed HBO animated series starring Keith David that ran for 3 six-episode seasons and earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Animation Program.
In the comics, he was known for his struggles against the Violator, a demon that takes the form of a clown and is sent by Malebogia to tempt Spawn into using his powers for evil, and his erstwhile relationship with Angela, a bounty hunter from Heaven sent to kill Spawn but becomes his ally instead.