Venom and Spawn may hail from different comic book companies, but both characters have one thing in common: Todd McFarlane. McFarlane co-created the symbiote-powered villain/anti-hero for Marvel with David Michelinie, and a few years later, he brought Al Simmons' demonic self to life over at Image Comics. Because they exist in different fictional universes, the chances of Venom and Spawn crossing over on the big screen are slim, but McFarlane already has an idea on this could be pulled off. As he sees it, Sony Pictures, which is releasing the Venom movie later this year, just needs to distribute the upcoming Spawn reboot, thus putting the characters under the same studio umbrella. McFarlane explained:
Let's say Venom is huge --- I hope it is --- then no matter who distributes Spawn, the first thing you will see in every trailer will be, 'From the co-creator of Venom.' So, then my question to Sony is, why would you let one of your competitors use that line, given that it was your effort that made Venom work? Your money that made Venom work? Your marketing that made Venom work? I think it's worth asking, then, what happens if they both work? And then what happens ten years down the line, when they want to do a Spawn/Venom crossover and they get the guy who helped create both those characters to direct it? Might be kind of cool.
After years of languishing in development, it was announced at last year at San Diego Comic-Con that the Spawn reboot, which Todd McFarlane is writing and directing, is finally moving forward at Blumhouse Productions, but it has yet to be revealed which studio will distribute it. Meanwhile, Sony is releasing Venom as the first movie in its lineup of Spider-Man spinoffs that don't actually include the Web-Slinger. But as McFarlane told Comic Book Resources, if Venom ends up being successful, then Sony would be wise to bring Spawn into the fold so that it could have two of his most famous creations as part of its cinematic offerings. From there, if Sony wanted, it could pair Venom and Spawn together in a crossover event, and I would imagine that McFarlane would play some kind of role in bringing that story to life.
The comic book version of Spawn is certainly no stranger to crossovers with characters from other companies, as he teamed up with Batman twice in the printed pages. However, even if Sony oversaw both the Venom and Spawn film series, there's no guarantee that they would ever meet on the big screen. In the coming years, at least, the studio will no doubt want to see these characters carry movies on their own, and in Venom's case, he'll probably team up other Spider-Man characters long before crossing paths with Spawn. Still, if Sony decides to distribute the Spawn reboot, at least the option would be on the table.
While Spawn doesn't have an assigned release date yet, production is expected to begin later this year, with Jamie Foxx occupying the eponymous role. As for Venom, which stars Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock, it will be released in theaters on October 5. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for updates on both comic book movies.
