Comics

Todd McFarlane Says More Things About ‘Spawn’ Because of ‘Joker’s’ Success

Published

4 years ago

November 1, 2019

Comic book and action figure titan Todd McFarlane continues to talk about his forthcoming live-action adaptation of Spawn, which he insists on writing and directing with a large budget.

The project sits at Blumhouse with Jamie Foxx attached to star as the title character and Jeremy Renner as Detective Twitch. McFarlane has been tweaking the screenplay for years while also recently threatening to crowdsource the new adaptation.

It feels like every few months McFarlane has a new update offering hope and excitement, but he’s becoming the boy who cried wolf. Now, he’s claiming the success of Joker has opened new doors to his R-rated Spawn.

“We keep pushing for it,” he tells the Phoenix New Times. “It’s interesting cause the Marvel movies, the MCU, has been doing quite well and those are PG-13 movies. I keep trying to convince people that doing a dark, serious comic book movie will work. There’s been so much success with these PG-13 movies that there’s a resistance to them in Hollywood. But since Joker came out, it proves what I’ve been saying for over two years to any executives I can talk to. Serious dark comic books can work. R-movies can succeed. So now, all of a sudden, I’ve been getting a lot of phone calls saying, ‘Todd, we need to talk to you about that R-rated dark thing you wanted to do.’ So Joker did me a favor.”

Don’t get me wrong, I’m dying to see Spawn back on the big screen, but I’m still skeptical. While there may be new interest, the same problems exist: there’s a weak script that McFarlane refuses to allow anyone to touch; the budget is too high; McFarlane insists on directing; and the intellectual property is not for sale.

While I’m actually on McFarlane’s side with all of his demands and respect his candor/stubbornness, it’s also what’s keeping this project from coming to fruition. At some point, he’s going to have to play ball. However, all the respect to him if he can stand his ground, have all the cake and eat it too.

Comics

‘Witchblade’ is Getting Resurrected This Summer in New Comic Series from Top Cow and Image Comics

Published

7 days ago

April 18, 2024

Meagan Navarro

Witchblade, the popular comic series that initially ran from 1995 to 2015 and launched a TV series, is getting resurrected in a new comic series from Top Cow and Image Comics. It’s set to unleash heavy metal, black magic and blood this summer.

Look for the new Witchblade series to launch on July 17, 2024.

In Witchblade #1, “New York City Police Detective Sara Pezzini’s life was forever fractured by her father’s murder. Cold, cunning, and hellbent on revenge, Sara now stalks a vicious criminal cabal beneath the city, where an ancient power collides and transforms her into something wild, magnificent, and beyond her darkest imaginings. How will Sara use this ancient power, or will she be consumed by it?”

The series is penned by NYT Best-Selling writer Marguerite Bennett (Animosity, Batwoman, DC Bombshells) and visualized by artist Giuseppe Cafaro (Suicide Squad, Power Rangers, Red Sonja). The creative duo is working with original co-creator Marc Silvestri, who is the CEO of Top Cow Productions Inc. and one of the founders of Image Comics. They are set to reintroduce the series to Witchblade’s enduring fans with “a reimagined origin with contemporary takes on familiar characters and new story arcs that will hook new readers and rekindle the energy and excitement that fueled the 90’s Image Revolution that shaped generations of top creators.”

Bennett said in a statement, “The ability to tell a ferocious story full of monsters, sexuality, vision, and history was irresistible.” She adds, “Our saga is sleek, vicious, ferocious, and has a lot to say about power in the 21st century and will be the first time that we are stopping the roller coaster to let more people on. I’ve loved Witchblade since I was a child, and there is truly no other heroine like Sara with such an iconic legacy and such a rich, brutal relationship to her own body.”

“The Witchblade universe is being modernized to reflect how Marguerite beautifully explores the extreme sides of Sara through memories, her personal thoughts, like desire and hunger, in her solitude and when she is possessed by the Witchblade. So, I had to visually intersect a noir True Detective-like world with a supernatural, horror world that is a fantastic mix between Berserk and Zodiac,” Cafaro stated.

Marc Silvestri notes, “This is brand new mythology around Sara, and I can’t wait for you to fall in love with her and all the twists and turns. Discover Witchblade reimagined this summer, and join us as we bring all the fun of the 90s to the modern age and see how exciting comics can be. I can’t wait for you to read this new series.”

Witchblade#1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, July 17th, for $4.99 for 48 pages. And it’ll come with multiple cover variants.