Todd McFarlane Teases 2025 Spawn Titles, Offers Spawn Reboot Updates, Reacts to Joker 2

Legendary comic creator Todd McFarlane made waves when he announced 8 new To generate titles at New York Comic Con in October 2024, all of which would hit stores in 2025. Although the Al Simmons character first appeared in May 1992, McFarlane had conceived him much earlier, as a teenager in 1977. Thus , the idea of ​​exploring a pre-Al period of lore was born, and Spawn Universe editor-in-chief Thomas Healy is writing Generate '77with issue #1 arriving in April 2025.

With the next iteration of To generate on the big screen still on the horizon, McFarlane continues to expand on the stories told on paper. Some other new titles from Image Comics this year include: Bleeding (written by Joseph P. Illidge and Tim Seeley with art by Christian Rosado), about the former CIA agent who Al failed to kill; She-Spawn #1 (written by Gail Simone with art by Ig Guara), an origin story for Jessica Priest; and The freak (written by McFarlane himself with art by Jason Shawn Alexander), about one of Spawn's scariest supervillains.

TelaRant interviewed the great Todd McFarlane, previewing some of his exciting To generate titles in 2025 and offering some of its hot scenes from the state of the DCU after Joker: Folie à Deux and before James Gunn Superman. Finally, the creator of the comics explained why the long-awaited Spledge the reboot film has not yet entered production.

Thomas Healy explores pre-Al Simmons times in Spawn '77

“It’s like someone in a Halloween costume was trying to be that person.”

ScreenRant: I want to dive into the comics because there have been some cool things happening. We can explore Spawn before Al Simmons in Generate '77. What inspired you to tell this story and how does this prequel contribute to the overall lore of the Spawn universe?

Todd McFarlane: The easy catalyst was that I created Spawn as a kid in 1977, so that's just a fact. When I spoke to Mark Spears and Thomas Healy, we were just throwing around some ideas. One of them was, “Hey, remember that silly drawing you made when you were 16?” It has since been cleaned up and modified to become modern, but it is still not drastically different. We even made a toy based on my original drawings when I was 16. We were just talking and thinking, “Wouldn’t it be cool to do something based on this?” Mark had some cool ideas and we went from there.

I was thinking about trying to do a French Connection type story. I didn't want it to be true hell because this was only 20 years after Al showed up, and I'm trying to say that these things are kind of rare. I didn't want it to be like this, every 10 minutes there's something new. I think that detracts from it, whereas the story is more about someone learning about hellspawn lore previously.

At this point, there would be no Al Simmons because he is still a decade and a half away from existing in the comics. So it would be like someone was doing their homework. It would be like someone in a world with Batman wants to be an imitation of Batman, when you will never be as good. You'll never be as good, but you'll still be a character. There are some people walking the earth who will say, “What is Batman doing here? He's my mortal enemy, I better go get him without asking if he's really Bruce Wayne's Batman.”

In this case, they think that Hell perhaps brought another infernal back. I don't want to say it's that simple, but it's like someone in a Halloween costume was trying to be that person. There are a lot more complications and details, but this is how we get there.

What to expect from Jason Shawn Alexander's art for The Freak

“If you’re making pages that you show to your wife and she’s repulsed? So you are doing a good job.”

ScreenRant: Jason Shawn Alexander is back for The freakone of Spawn's scariest characters, in a twisted new story. What can you say about your collaboration with Jason and what sets this Freak story apart from previous narratives?

Todd McFarlane: This will be the origin story, so you'll get some backstory as you see what he's doing in the present. I have a mech that shows how he became a Freak, and it's a long detailed story. I wanted to spread the source snippets throughout the story, but I don't know how many problems we'll have. When you understand the story, that's it. That's the last question.

Jason is doing some cool Freak stuff in the Swan comic, but he's been away from him for a while, so it's taken him a while to warm up. But once he warms up, if anyone is familiar with his art style, it's already strange and scary. You could only get one of a handful of people to do a Freak book, and he's one of them. He's starting to discover that not only can he have fun with the scary pages, but also when it's not so dramatic because the character is just weird. You can start playing with body language and things like that.

I keep saying, “Hey, if you're making pages that you show your wife and she's repulsed? So you are doing a good job.” He's saying that his wife isn't very impressed at the moment, which means he's doing a great job. He sends me the pages, and some of them are just crazy. I only do plots; I don't do the entire script, but I needed a page of him going crazy. The line was just that: “He’s alone in a room, so he’s just throwing a tantrum that no one can see.” Jason made this page and some people in the office said, “Man, this is so cool.” I just gave him one sentence and he did it himself!

For me, sometimes there's this change in him. Arguably, it's road rage, and we all have it. I'm just taking everything I think people have and expanding it a little more.

Gail Simone's She-Spawn will find Jessica Priest suffering silent torment

“Being a hero must be a challenge from the start.”

ScreenRant: Can we talk about She-Spawn #1? I'm a huge fan of Gail Simone and we'll have that in 2025. What's in store for Jessica Priest and how will she shake up the Spawn universe?

Todd McFarlane: Well, some of them weren't necessarily meant to make an impact on the universe. Some of them are meant to make a personal impact on that character, so that they can make the story and go through it, and no one knows that they went through that pain and suffering. Gail is going to show a little bit of that, like we're doing on The Freak, of how this character got there.

There's a bit of an origin there, but then it comes down in many moments just to say, "This is the torment of being a hero." I've always been a firm believer that being a hero should be challenging from the start. Not only should it not be easy, but it should also come with a price.

If you think about big celebrities, although this might be a strange kind of comparison, everyone would like to make money - but Lady Gaga or whoever, can't walk down the street and go into 7-11 and get a soda. You get something that's cool and shiny, but you have to sacrifice so much more. What celebrities sacrifice is a normal life. Or any great athlete, you're on the road half the time. You're not around and your relationships suffer. Being rich and famous to me isn't necessarily all it's cracked up to be, so be careful what you wish for.

I think being a superhero is the same thing. You have to put your body on the line. People in the military do this all the time, but you know you might never go home again. How do you resolve all of this, given that you are protecting a greater cause but may be losing what is near and dear to you? And sometimes you almost have to make a change and seek to improve your consciousness. There was a movie years ago called The Insider where a whistleblower knew he might lose his wife, family and everything he held dear. The unicorns of the world are the ones who say, “Even though I'm going to lose all of this, my community, my friends – potentially my family, my wife, my home, my job – if I don't do what I want. I have to do it, I will never sleep soundly for the rest of my life. I will never have a clear conscience.”

That's a long-winded way of saying that Gail figured out a way to introduce some of these elements into She-Spawn. For starters, she didn't ask to be the hero; it just happened to her. She's still trying to find her feet when it comes to what that means and the sacrifices she must make.

“I can understand some of the criticism while watching, but…”

ScreenRant: What did you think Venom: The Last Danceand what did you think of Tom Hardy's portrayal of Venom? I feel like it's the end of an era because I love Tom's Venom.

Todd McFarlane: Yeah, I actually haven't seen it. I was just there for the premiere and then I had to leave. I had to return home. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to really take a look at it, but Tom has obviously been dedicated to it. Kelly [Marcel]the director was also there.

It's kind of weird that we've never crossed paths before. I was at the first premiere, but Tom arrived a little late, so I was already inside the theater and never caught up with him again. I just thought, “Okay, I’ll get it next time.” But these meetings are few and far between, as you know.

ScreenRant: You being brought on was a cool surprise for everyone.

Todd McFarlane: Yeah, I think at some point they were the same way. Like, “Man, how come we never met Todd or David [Michelinie]? And they're in the third movie – if it were me, I'd want to meet the person who made the original movie. But they were very kind and generous.

ScreenRant: Did you see Joker 2 yet? What did you think of this? I know a lot of people were divided on this, to say the least.

Todd McFarlane: Yes, I thought it was interesting. I spend time with Scott Silver, one of the guys who wrote it. I was having lunch with him and he said, “Did you see it?” I was like, “No, but I should.” So my wife and I went and saw it. I liked it more than she did.

I can understand some of the criticism while watching it, but just from making the movie and acting and everything, there were parts where I was like, “Wow, wow, wow.” Interestingly, I’ve gotten to the point where I say, “Oh, I see.” And with my ego - I'm going to expose my ego - I say, “Give me the whole film, put me in a room for three days and let me edit it.” I think there's a hybrid there that would work for what it was.

Again, I'm being completely biased and selfish here about what I thought would be in my head, but once I got in there with the insanity of the song, I think there's a way to go even more crazy. But that's just me. Some people saw it and weren't fans, and others loved it. I think it raises an opinion no matter who sees it.

ScreenRant: What do you think James Gunn needs to do to be successful Superman film?

Todd McFarlane: I have no idea about any of your conversations, but if I were sitting at the table, what would be hardest to do - and what I think needs to be done, although I have no idea how you would do it - is like You take a character that has been around for so long... So long that not only your mother knows about him, but your grandparents know about him, and make a character that your grandparents knew relevant today? This is difficult because there is a stigma like: “This is a mom and dad thing. We have cool, modern stuff here.” How do you make Mickey Mouse relevant to today's kids when you have Buzz Lightyear?

I don't know what the answer is, right? There are new, sexier characters emerging. Superman is a classic Boy Scout, a perfect superhero. What you need to change to have a 20-year-old today who wasn't even born in 1900 – they were born in this century – is this. If you can do that, then the big S in that word Superman will please all of us who were born in the 1900s. That's it. That would be the goal I would give. I would say, “Okay, James, now do this,” and I hope they come back and give you some great ideas behind it. So we'll see.

The Spawn Reboot Movie Holdup, Explained by Todd McFarlane

“Are we still pushing the rock? Yes. Do I need to talk about what any of these details mean now? No."

ScreenRant: Is there any movement in the To generate movie, or any update on whether Jeremy Renner is still involved?

Todd McFarlane: Man, Hollywood is wearing me out. It's like the election; you get exhausted eventually. Every day you become numb to it. We just had a big meeting about this the other day, but now I find that my wife has gotten exhausted with me talking about it. She said, “Just tell them when the movie comes, Todd. Otherwise, shut up.”

So are we still pushing the boulder? Yes. Do I need to talk about what any of these details mean now? No, because I continue to see that developing films is a unique experience. So you put that on top of a city that is dismayed right now; this has no direction now. The pandemic came at the beginning of 2020 and, in a few months, we will be in 2025. Five years have passed since the pandemic until today. It's not like I've talked to every big shot, but the people I talk to in Hollywood — and I talk to a constant stream of them — there's not a single person I talk to who's talking like the glass is half full. Even those who have a half-full personality, so I know it's bad.

Because in the early years, these people were like, “Don’t worry about it, Todd. We will recover.” Now when I have this conversation, I can hear it in their voice. And it's not despair; It's just that everyone is looking for the light at the end of the tunnel and no one sees it yet. What this tells me is that there is no clarity. Even when they find the clarity of, “There’s the hole. I see the light”, it will take years to then move towards that opening for the light to become big. Most cycles last five or six years, but I think Hollywood still has three more years of pain at least before it starts to find any kind of North Star.