Todd McFarlane’s Spawn may finally be getting a reboot film, but Jamie Foxx has had his eye on the titular role for years.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Foxx revealed he first spoke to McFarlane about the role six years ago, after flying to Phoenix to seek him out. Foxx did in-depth research on the history of Spawn and his background, and lobbied for the opportunity to play the antihero.
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“I had done all my research on Spawn,” Foxx said. “I know everything about the character and what he had done. He was taken aback. I said, ‘Whatever you decide to do, I wanna be first up.’ And what I tried to do is stay artistically in shape.”
Foxx would go on to present McFarlane with his idea of who his version of Spawn would be. “I’m both. I’m good and I’m evil,” Foxx added. “I was blessed by God but I was raised by the devil.” The explanation stayed with the McFarlane and he ended up casting the Academy Award winner, although Foxx was ready to fight for the role if necessary.
When casting began, Foxx said, “I challenge anyone out there not to make it competitive. I challenge anyone who was more ready. More ready to give everything. Because you can’t challenge someone as far as who’s the better actor. Because there’s always better actors, better actresses. It’s what you bring. Things worked out.”
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The Spawn reboot has no official release date yet, and while Foxx isn’t sure of when the movie will start filming, he noted that the gears are in motion. “We’re not sure of the start date but we’ve already started crafting things,” he said. “Clay Fontenot, who was the stunt guy in the Iron Man suit, he’s crafting Spawn now. That’s the exciting part. When you see it, he’s gonna have his own identity.”
Spawn will mark the directorial debut for McFarlane, who created the hellish comic book character in 1992 and has long been working on bringing the character back to the big screen. Foxx officially signed on to the role in May, and it was announced earlier this month that Jeremy Renner is set to star opposite Foxx as Detective Maximillian Steven Percival “Twitch” Williams III.