In the poorly-received 1997 Spawn, actor and martial artist Michael Jai White played the role of Al Simmons, the CIA assassin who becomes a Hellspawn after being murdered. For Todd McFarlane's upcoming reboot of the property, Oscar winner Jamie Foxx will step in to the role of the titular character. Jamie Foxx's involvement in the project was a long time in the making and was the result of the actor showing real interest in the film, as director Todd McFarlane explained:
I was fortunate enough, I went to my first ask, which was Jamie Foxx. I had talked to him before. I had talked to him at my office, coincidentally, years before, to express his interest in Spawn. So when he left, I thought, 'That was a kind man,' he was very charismatic, very sweet person. And usually, you have to go to the stars. He flew to my office, he went from L.A. to Phoenix, and I went, 'Wow.' Anybody who makes that effort, I owe them the courtesy of, when I'm ready to actually take this project into Hollywood and start casting it, I owe him the courtesy of going back to him to say, 'Hey, good sir, are you still interested?'
It sounds like the Spawn reboot has been in the works for some time, and at one point years ago, Todd McFarlane met with Jamie Foxx about possibly starring in the film. The actor showed genuine interest in the project, flying out for the meeting. More than that, he just came off as a good guy.
Jamie Foxx left such an impression on Todd McFarlane that when the time came to actually cast the reboot years later, the director felt he owed it to Jamie Foxx to offer him the role first, as he told Comicbook.com.
So Todd McFarlane did just that, but despite the fact that Jamie Foxx and their meeting left an impression on him, Todd McFarlane wasn't so sure that the star would remember the meeting or still be interested in Spawn. However, it seems that Jamie Foxx was just waiting on him, as McFarlane continued:
Now, I thought he'd long forgotten that meeting, but he was like, 'What took you so long?!' Like, 'Todd, of course I'm in! What are you talking about, let's do this!' He jumped in with two feet, it wasn't even a hard sell.
Jamie Foxx's enthusiasm for Spawn seemingly didn't diminish over the years, and he was still excited and on board to take on the character. This is a good sign for Spawn that the director and actor were sympatico and both motivated to get started on the film.
It is especially cool that Jamie Foxx got involved with this film considering the fact that, as Todd McFarlane said, he was his first ask. Todd McFarlane isn't a casting director, he's the man who created the character on the page. So if Jamie Foxx is who he sees as Al Simmons, it's awesome that that's who is actually going to be playing him in the film.
Jamie Foxx stars alongside Jeremy Renner in the film written and directed by Todd McFarlane. Spawn hasn't started filming yet, so there's still a lot that we don't know, but the film is aiming for an R rating.
In the two decades since the ill-received 1997 film, the comic book movie genre has flourished, making now the perfect time for the upcoming Spawn reboot. This film has the potential to be something that stands apart from the MCU films and even other R-rated fare like Logan and Deadpool, making it feel fresh and necessary. That it has such a talented actor in the lead role is just icing on the cake.
Spawn does not have an official release date yet, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for that information. That would be just one of a slew of hugely anticipated movies coming next year. Check out the rest of them in our 2019 release schedule.
