The Spawn Movie Will Be More R-Rated Than Deadpool, Creator Says

Comic book legend and Spawn creator Todd McFarlane has been trying to get a new movie version of his demonic anti-hero into production for some time. Last year, it was reported that Blumhouse Film, the producers of such hits as Get Out and Split, would produce the movie. The film has yet to start shooting, but McFarlane has further hinted at what fans can expect from it.

Speaking at the ACE Comic-Con, McFarlane explained that his movie would be very different from other recent R-rated comic book adaptations. "It's funny in Hollywood, if you say you want to do an R-rated movie, they go like 'Oh like Deadpool and like Logan?'" he said, via The Playlist. "For me, no. Deadpool, to me, was a PG-13 action movie. It just had some naked butts and a couple f-bombs. Other than that, I thought it was the same PG-13 formula.

"I'm talking R. I'm talking that there will not be a lot of fun, there will not be any stupid lines in it. I never like my hero to make a joke right when the jeopardy was at its highest. I felt that if my hero wasn't afraid right now, why should I be? I want my heroes to go 'S**t, what do I do now?'"

Of course, it could be argued that if it wasn't for the huge success of Deadpool and Logan, it would be a lot harder to get funding for any R-rated comic book movie. Nevertheless, this isn't the first time that McFarlane has suggested that his movie would be very different from the current wave of superhero movies.

In an interview last year, McFarlane was asked how confident he was about his ability to direct the movie, which will be his debut. "I didn't used to draw comic books and I drew comic books and I won awards," he said, via Deadline. "I don't know how to read music and I have a Grammy Award. I'm spending my own money so who cares if it doesn't work out? It's a $10 million budget movie, and [a studio] would just get a 22-year-old punk director. I just want to be the old punk directing it."

The Spawn comic book was first published in 1992 and was massively popular, with the first issue selling 1.7 million copies. However, the 1997 film adaptation received a negative critical reception and underperformed commercially.

Numerous video games featuring the character have been released over the years, including Spawn: The Video Game, Spawn: Armageddon, and Spawn: The Eternal.