Although Spawn has enjoyed more than two decades of popularity in the comics, his first cinematic outing in 1997 didn't go quite as well as hoped, to put it lightly. The character's creator, Todd McFarlane, hopes to give the demonic protagonist a second chance at silver screen glory with the upcoming Spawn reboot, which McFarlane will direct. So far most of the news surrounding the new Spawn movie has been about the character himself (duh) and how this project will differ from the previous version, but now McFarlane has revealed that at least one other major character from the Spawn comics will appear in the reboot: Detective Maximillian "Twitch" Williams. Elaborating on Twitch's role in the Spawn reboot, McFarlane said:
There is a big police component in this movie, but Sam is yet to be his partner in the story that I'm writing. The big role is Twitch and Spawn, and then we do have another police role, his current partner in this movie, who is our quasi-Sam but it's not Sam....And then there's a female lead that's in there. It's not a love interest or any of the typical movie tropes.
While the main hook for the Spawn reboot will be the antihero running around battling forces scarier than him (as hard as that may be to imagine), Todd McFarlane told Comicbook.com that this movie will also have a "significant" police presence, which includes Twitch having a major role. However, in contrast with the comics, where Twitch and his partner, Sam Burke, have been paired together ever since Spawn first hit the scene, this Twitch will be partnered with someone else. Still, depending on if this Spawn reboot does well and a sequel is ordered, perhaps we could see the classic Sam and Twitch partnership in a sequel.
Although Sam and Twitch originally started out as supporting characters in the Spawn comic book series, they were so well received that they eventually spun off into their own series. Twitch is the brains of the duo, while Sam is the muscle. So even though he won't be trading lines with his usual partner in the Spawn reboot, we can presumably expect Twitch to harness his incredible intelligence when investigating Spawn in this new story. Kevin Smith is also developing a Sam & Twitch TV series for BBC America, but this show isn't expected to have any ties to the Spawn reboot.
In contrast with the 1997 Spawn movie, which had a traditional superhero movie feel, the Spawn reboot will rest more comfortably in the horror realm, which is appropriate since its a Blumhouse production. McFarlane also assures longtime Spawn fans that the reboot is targeting a hardcore R rating, and while Michael Jai White's Spawn spoke back in the day, the version of the character won't utter a word.
Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more news on how the Spawn reboot is coming along, and look through our 2018 premiere guide to see what movies are arriving this year.
