On paper, Eddie Brock and Albert ‘Al’ Francis Simmons aren’t so different.
They both have their inner demons, and struggle to strike a balance between one life and the other. There’s another common denominator between Venom and Spawn, of course. His name? Todd McFarlane, and he’s still crossing his fingers in hope that the two anti-heroes will one day share the screen together.
It’s a long shot, of course; Sony currently holds screen rights to the sinister symbiote, and is unlikely to part with them anytime soon after last year’s standalone Venom movie soared past $850 million worldwide. Spawn, on the other hand, is about to receive a new lease of life courtesy of Blumhouse Productions and Todd McFarlane himself, with Jamie Foxx on board to play Al Simmons.
Still, McFarlane isn’t about to throw the towel in when it comes to a possible monster mash-up:
No matter who distributes Spawn, the first thing you will see in every trailer will be ‘From the co-creator of Venom’. So, 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? I think it’s worth asking, then, what if they both work?
It’s certainly not the worst idea in the world. Besides, having Jamie Foxx and Tom Hardy under the one roof would surely yield strong box office results, as they’re both acting powerhouses in their own right. Whether the stars align, though, is another question entirely, as Spawn will first have to stand on its own two feet before talk of a crossover movie can ever gain any traction. But, like Todd McFarlane, we too live in hope.
Filming on the rebooted Spawn is now expected to commence in June, hinting at a possible release in the early stages of 2020. Stay tuned for more on that one.