Blumhouse's Unmade Spawn Movie Has The Most Cursed Production History You'll Ever See

Outside of Marvel or DC, it's tough to find a more impactful comic book superhero than that of Spawn. Created by former Marvel Comics superstar Todd McFarlane, "Spawn" served as one the big launch titles for Image Comics (which McFarlane co-founded back in the early 1990s). It was a massive, genre re-defining IP, with the comic book series still going strong to this day. "Spawn" was even big enough to get a big-budget, live-action movie adaptation from New Line Cinema in 1997.

Unfortunately, the film didn't do well critically or commercially. Ever since then, McFarlane has been highly protective of the Spawn character and understandably so, even holding off on discussing a new movie until roughly 2009. Later, in 2016, McFarlane revealed he had finished a script for a new "Spawn" film. A year after, the horror maestros at Blumhouse Productions signed on to produce the project, with McFarlane slated to write and direct the "Spawn" movie himself. Thus began one of the most tumultuous journeys through development hell in modern cinema history.

Recently, McFarlane provided an update to ComicBook.com during the 2025 San Diego Comic-Con, hinting that the project is still in the works and that he and the film's other creatives are now in discussions with a new A-list director. Still, nothing is set in stone. That being the case, we're going to go over the entire timeline of this movie's journey through development hell, year by year. Buckle up, because it's a ride.

On May 1, 2017, McFarlane first revealed his completed "Spawn" script to the world just ahead of SDCC before the Blumhouse deal was announced. Despite never having directed before, the comic book creator was insistent that he maintain creative control, which Blumhouse agreed to. We'll get into this later, but much has changed since that deal was signed.

In July 2017, McFarlane began hyping up "Spawn" as an R-rated horror movie, more akin to "Jaws" as opposed to a big-budget superhero film. He suggested Twitch, a detective from the comics, would perhaps be the main character. "Twitch is the role in this one, and I sort of refer to him as my sheriff Brody, who is the sheriff in the 'Jaws' movie. Although it was called 'Jaws,' Jaws didn't really talk a lot in his movie, right?" McFarlane said at the time.

Later that year in October, Blumhouse head Jason Blum reaffirmed his decision to allow McFarlane to direct the film. "We've had a great back-and-forth around developing the script," Blum said at the time. "I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think he could do a great job."

Just a couple of days later, McFarlane said his "Spawn" movie would be "dark and R-rated" and not R-rated like 2016's "Deadpool," which was a massive hit "with a couple F-bombs and a couple bare asses" (as McFarlane put it). He also suggested it would have a much lower budget, perhaps in the $10 million range.

It was reported in May 2018 that Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx ("Ray") was set to star in "Spawn" as Al Simmons, the man who is killed and brought back as an undead avenger of sorts in the original comics. In a further star power flex, Jeremy Renner ("The Avengers") was in talks to play Twitch Williams in the movie come July 2018. Twitch is a quirky detective who has had a huge role in the comics since the earliest days of the title's publication.

Rewinding the clocks just slightly, in June 2018, McFarlane further illustrated his ambitions for the project, suggesting that a crossover with "Venom" could be in the cards, under the right circumstances. "What if Sony distributes 'Spawn?' Then is it possible that, in the future, Sony could have a crossover with Venom and Spawn? It's possible," McFarlane said at the time. "I will be presenting that possibility to the Sony executives when we get ready." This was before the "Venom" films became a $1 billion franchise, but since McFarlane co-created the famed Spider-Man villain, it's easy to see why he was proposing the crossover.

In August 2018, it was reported that special effects maestro Greg Nicotero ("The Walking Dead") was also boarding the "Spawn" reboot, having previously worked on the '97 version (making for a reunion of sorts). The big thing that 2018 proved was that McFarlane and Blumhouse were aiming high.

When Blumhouse signed on to produce "Spawn," it should have been clear that nobody intended for this to be a traditional superhero movie. "There's gonna be no fun lines in it, and it's just gonna be this dark, ugly two hours worth of movie, which is essentially what a lot of supernatural/horror movies are anyway," McFarlane said while discussing "Spawn" in a January 2019 interview. "There's not a lot of funny in them. And that seems to be a weird hurdle for a lot of people in this city to get over because they sort of go into a superhero/Avengers default all the time."

Superhero movies were arguably at their peak, so McFarlane going out on a limb made some sense. Unfortunately, convincing the money people to take a big swing wasn't as easy. In a May 2019 interview, McFarlane explained that he was prepared to walk away if need be, saying the following:

"The money's sitting on the sidelines ready to go. I just need to get everyone that wants to put in money to shake their heads to the same script. As you can imagine, everyone has a slightly different version of it in their head. You just go and trying to appease a handful of people while not giving in to what it is that I'm trying to do myself. Because if I have to change it too much, I'll just walk away from it all."

In a different May 2019 interview with Syfy Wire, the comic book legend made it clear that Spawn wouldn't actually be in the "Spawn" movie all that much:

"A lot of people reading [the script] go, 'I need to see more of him.' I keep saying, 'He's just my boogeyman in this movie, and then once we get to Part II, then he'll come full flight into the afternoon light. But [in] the first one, he's hiding in the shadows until it's the right time to come out.'"

When 2020 arrived, everything changed. Hollywood was effectively shut down for months because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which naturally impacted "Spawn." In March 2020, just as the pandemic was truly taking hold, it was reported that Jamie Foxx had left the "Spawn" reboot. Still, in spite of the setback, the success of 2019's "Joker" had given McFarlane confidence, with the creator saying:

"Hollywood is a different place right now; they understand the value of what 'Spawn' can bring to a reasonable budget. 'Joker' lit the fire. Up until now, it felt like I was pushing up this boulder on my own, but now there are others joining me who know that these stories should be told."

As one might expect, 2020 was relatively quiet on the "Spawn" front. But in an August 2020 interview on "Joe Q's Mornin' Warm Up" with Joe Quesada, McFarlane teased that the movie was gaining momentum and adding talent without being overly specific.

"I can tell you right now there is momentum going on 'Spawn,' the movie," he said at the time. "The things you need to do to eventually get to the point where you're going to get into production once COVID allows us to get into production, all those things are going on right now and we're adding talent, big, big talent that we haven't announced yet."

In February 2021, Image Comics announced the publication of "Spawn's Universe," a new comic book that would launch a full universe of comic stories based on the "Spawn" character, including "Gunslinger Spawn," "King Spawn," and "Medieval Spawn." The character's universe was expanding, yet the "Spawn" film reboot was still trapped in development hell.

Speaking with ComicBook.com that same month, McFarlane said, "We just added another person. Movement is happening. We crossed a threshold literally last week." He declined to get more specific. "We have designs," Greg Nicotero confirmed in a July 2021 interview, revealing that McFarlane said, "I want it to feel more like the animated show, where it's like 'Spawn' meets David Fincher." Nicotero also noted that the project had "stalled."

Then, in August 2021, it was reported that Brian Tucker ("Broken City") had signed on to write "Spawn," taking over duties from McFarlane. This was one of the first signs of the latter relinquishing some control. In a November 2021 interview, McFarlane even hinted at a possible "Spawn" cinematic universe thanks to the expansion of the comics:

"If you're looking for properties that are out there that are superhero that are intertwined, or whatever else, and you want to base it on sales and branding and how it's done over the years, at the top of the chart, it's 'Spawn' and his world, right now, and nothing is close. Nothing is close."

This is the period where this project truly seemed to languish. It was all talk and no show.

"Something's going to give in the next few months, right? There's too many people pushing in that direction," McFarlane said to Bleeding Cool in an April 2022 interview. "We'll never get to the top of the mountain if we can't do it now, with everybody wanting to do it now. Fingers crossed. I would say it's now or never." 

Despite McFarlane's words, it wasn't then, and it's still not never. In July 2022 during SDCC, McFarlane once again spoke with ComicBook.com and teased that a "Spawn" streaming series might be possible, but he had reservations. "My only hesitation for that kind of deal right now is that there's no data that I can think of that somebody's been able to build a [movie] franchise starting as a streaming [series]," he said at the time.

In August 2022, despite at one point supposedly not starring in the movie, Foxx teased his involvement once again and the costume that McFarlane had been cooking up. "I've seen a lot of concepts," Foxx said to ComicBook.com. "He crafts that cape and how that cape becomes almost like — I'll say this — as big as the screen that you're watching."

Then, in October 2022, the project was once again met with a major shakeup as a trio of writers in the forms of Scott Silver ("Joker"), Malcolm Spellman ("The Falcon and the Winter Soldier"), and newcomer Matt Mixon were hired to rewrite the script for "Spawn." Not only was this McFarlane relinquishing more control, but it's also unusual for three writers to be hired to work on a movie at the same time.

Whatever McFarlane's plans may have been for a low-budget "Spawn" that he was going to direct went out the window by early 2023. "My original plan has gotten tripped up a bit," he admitted in an interview of March that year with ComicBook.com, claiming that several A-listers had joined the project, which led to the change. Per McFarlane:

"What they're not going to want is to do a cheap, low-budget movie with all of these big name people on it. That's not why they're signing up. They're not looking for a big extravaganza. But, they're also not looking for an eight million dollar horror movie budget."

In June of that year, Blumhouse head Jason Blum told ComicBook.com that "Spawn" was in "very active development" while adding, "My prediction is maybe we'll actually see a 'Spawn' movie in '25. No promises, but that's my prediction." That prediction would not come to pass.

The big thing that happened in 2023 was the months-long Writers Guild of America strike, which coincided with the Screen Actors Guild strike. This, once again, brought work on "Spawn" to a halt for months. McFarlane noted that the writers were "pretty far along" to ComicBook.com in September of that year, saying "We were in the middle of writing the script and then the writers strike came. So, that basically came to a screeching halt."

In a 2024 interview with Screen Rant, Blum said screenwriter Scott Silver was hoping to do something "different" and "dangerous" with "Spawn," and that it couldn't just be "Marvel lite." He also noted that "he doesn't want to do horror because that is its own thing. What does that mean, exactly? We still don't know.

"I feel more confident now at any point in the process, given all the dynamics that are there right now," McFarlane said to Comicbook.com in May of 2024. "I'm excited, man. I can't wait for it." His excitement stemmed in part from the R-rated "Deadpool & Wolverine," which went on to make $1.3 billion at the box office. Still, so far as we can tell, it didn't help get "Spawn" moving forward.

Then, on July 22, 2024, Blumhouse shared an official script cover on its Instagram page boasting the title "King Spawn." This suggested that the movie was going to take inspiration from the comic of the same name that launched in 2021. However, it was later revealed this was probably just a "working title" and not the actual title of the movie. So, why share it in such an official capacity? That remains a mystery. 

So, where does that leave us in 2025? Things are still largely languishing where they've been languishing, with McFarlane promising that stuff is happening behind the scenes. Yet, nothing has materialized. No studio is officially attached to distribute the film, and there is no timeline for production. It might be getting closer to finding a director, though.

"I went and met with a director, we want to sign them, they gave me the numbers last week, we've given it to them, hopefully, he signs on," McFarlane said in his July 2025 interview with ComicBook.com. "The contract went out, literally, last week. I'm here to tell you it's an A[-list] director."

McFarlane declined to say who the director is, but it's not him, and that's a far cry from where this all started eight years ago.

"Spawn" remains without a release date, but stay tuned.