Todd McFarlane wants Spawn movie to be like Jaws

While Mark A.Z. Dippé’s Spawn was considered a modest-success, a sequel has been in development hell since 1998. However, in 2009, creator-Todd McFarlane began work on a screenplay for a new low-budget movie, but would serve as neither a reboot or sequel. The film would be a stand-alone film that would be “creepy and scary”. Nothing has been heard about the film since, but Hero Complex interviewed McFarlane about the direction he wants to take the film.

In the interview, McFarlane revealed he intends to approach the film in the same manner as Ridley Scott’s Alien or Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. In the sense the title character doesn’t speak. “Really, the story revolves around the people who are trying to decide: “Is the ghost alive? Is the shadow actually moving?” When I give that pitch, some of the executives scratch their heads. To a lot of people, a movie where the [title] character doesn’t talk doesn’t make any sense. There have been a few movies like that. “Alien,” you know, that guy didn’t say much. Or ”Jaws,” the shark didn’t have too many speaking lines. “Jaws” is the closest example, the movie wasn’t about the shark, it’s about the people chasing the shark,” he said. McFarlane also wanted the film to be more about the people caught up in the conflict rather than about “superheroes and laser beams”.

It sounds like he wants to go with the same direction that was given to Matt Reeves Cloverfield, with the film featuring very little about the actual hero. McFarlane also wants to show Spawn as more of a “force of nature” rather than a superhero. Although, fans may be skeptical about the idea of a superhero movie without a villain. After all, one of the greatest aspects of recent comic book films like The Dark Knight, Spider-man 2, and The Incredible Hulk have been the villains. However, McFarlane sees Spawn as “being cut from a different cloth” than other superheroes. But given the amount of time it’s taken to get another Spawn film made, fans may not want a film that features little of the title character.

Matt Keith

I’m just your everday movie nerd.

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