Spawn movie will have no joy or “fun lines,” says Todd McFarlane

After years of talk (and talk, and talk), comic book icon Todd McFarlane is finally getting to make his gritty, R-rated Spawn movie, and with A-lister Jamie Foxx in the lead and studio Blumhouse behind the project. Fans are expecting something wildly different from what they’ve seen in other mainstream comic book movies, and McFarlane has now gone as far as to say his movie will distance itself even further by having not even the slightest iota of joy or humor. So much for a cameo by Spider-Man, amiright?

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McFarlane has not been the least bit shy about sharing his vision for the upcoming comic book flick, saying again and again how the movie will be vastly darker and grimier than anything else any studio has put out. He doesn’t seem to be a huge fan of all the other superhero movies out there being as much about the humor as they are the spectacle, and in a recent interview with Nerdist, he says his movie will have none of those quirky lines or snarky characters.

“There’s no joy. 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. 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.”

McFarlane has come out time and again to talk about the tone of the movie, most recently comparing it to other horror classics like JAWS, as well as last year’s THE NUN (*gulp*). This on top of his words that it will be more like a horror/thriller than a typical comic book movie, and when you put it all together what we can essentially expect is a grim, scary, dark as hell horror flick that just so happens to have comic book characters in it. Cool.

The SPAWN movie has been picking up steam in the last few months, securing Foxx to play Al Simmons, a former CIA agent who is betrayed and killed by his partner, and upon being sent to hell, offers up his ever-lasting soul to see his wife Wanda once more. However, his wife has moved on, and now cursed as a Hellspawn he will use his demonic powers to fight all sorts of evil baddies.

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Other recent additions to the cast and crew are AVENGERS star Jeremy Renner and makeup guru Greg Nicotero (THE WALKING DEAD), who will be designing this newer, uglier Spawn. It’s been a bit since we heard anything about the movie’s production, but now that it’s 2019 things may kick into high gear with more casting announcements and a production start. I would think everyone involved is rather happy about getting started, but they’re all probably staying extra glum so as to keep in the mindset of the movie’s tone.