In 1997, only five years after he debuted in Image Comics, Spawn starred in his own movie, but unlike his comic book adventures, the demonic character's theatrical tale was met with critical derision. Fortunately, Spawn will be getting a shot at cinematic redemption, as last year, following nearly a decade of development, creator Todd McFarlane announced that an R-rated reboot that he will direct is in the works at Blumhouse Productions. In the months since, we've slowly learned how this new Spawn movie will be different from its predecessor, but today brings work that the reboot may have finally found its lead, and it's someone who already has a little comic book movie experience under his belt: Jamie Foxx.
This isn't the first time that Jamie Foxx's name has been connected to a new Spawn movie. Back in 2013, the actor expressed interest in playing Al Simmons, and five years later, That Hashtag Show is reporting that Foxx has been offered the role, which was previously played by Michael Jai White. However, Foxx hasn't signed on to the Spawn reboot yet, and his involvement may hinder on how quickly the project moves forward. Supposedly production is set to begin this August, with Todd McFarlane hoping for Spawn to come out sometime in 2019. So perhaps if Spawn can get off the ground sooner rather than later, Foxx will be willing to participate.
If Jamie Foxx does play Spawn, this will be his second time performing in a comic book movie, as he previously played Max Dillon, a.k.a. Electro, in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. His other recent credits include the Horrible Bosses movies, Django Unchained, White House Down and Baby Driver. Later this year he'll be seen as Little John in Robin Hood, and he's also hosting Beat Shazam over at Fox. Foxx is a talented performer, but the fact that he was so enthusiastic about playing Spawn half a decade ago suggests that if he accepts the role for this reboot, we're in for a treat.
Rather than follow the same path as the 1997 movie and place Al Simmons front and center, the Spawn reboot is taking a different approach with featuring the eponymous character that doesn't involve exploring his origin story. Longtime fans of the Spawn mythology are familiar with detectives Sam Burke and Maximillian "Twitch" Williams, who started out as supporting characters in Spawn's comic book and became so popular that they were given their own book. While we won't see these two together in the upcoming movie, Todd McFarlane revealed that Twitch will be the other main character, as he and his yet-to-be-revealed female partner will cross paths with the demonic protagonist. As for Spawn, although he won't speak like a normal human, he will communicate in a special way.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more updates about the Spawn reboot as they come in. For now, if you're interested in planning your trips to the theater later this year, you can find release date information in our 2018 premiere guide.
